SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: i-node who wrote (215130)1/16/2005 2:12:19 PM
From: neolib  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1573692
 
You hit the nail on the head here:

When you start making changes to the methods of levying and collecting taxes, the cost to government and business is huge -- another complexity. Computer software has to be updated. Workers (government and private) have to retrained. All this stuff costs money and economic productivity.

The biggest obstacle to changing tax & accounting as well as legal statutes is complexity inertia. Look at the sum total invested in education of the practitioners in the field. Literally millions of people in the USA make their living as a direct result of the complexity of US financial and legal laws. These people have spent many years of schooling to do it as well.

Imagine waking up one morning with only Fed & State sales taxes of a single fixed percentage for all goods & services. No income or property tax. No complex business arrangements for tax purposes. The cost of implementing this is trivial compared to the chaos in the lives of CPA's, tax attorneys, accountants, software vendors, etc.

The argument in favor of the complexity is that it is useful. All the special provisions are supposed to encourage or discourage various behaviours that are to be encouraged or discouraged as deemed necessary by society (or special interest groups).



To: i-node who wrote (215130)1/16/2005 2:32:23 PM
From: neolib  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1573692
 
Regarding SS PIA computations, is there a limit on the upper 15% payout bracket?



To: i-node who wrote (215130)1/16/2005 6:59:52 PM
From: Alighieri  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1573692
 
There is imprecision, as well -- but it is manageable.

The complexity of the implementation logistics are one matter....but you continue to patronize people here on an entirely different basis. The SS and GAO projections for example are considerably different. That kind of imprecision in the arithmetic is based on different assumptions and would drive completely differing approaches to future management of the program. I am not taking sides here, simply pointing out the obvious blunting effect of dismissing people's opinions.

Al