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Strategies & Market Trends : Income Taxes and Record Keeping ( tax ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: OtherChap who wrote (827)	3/29/1998 11:02:00 PM
From: bluejeans	Respond to of 5810

other chap, several thoughts to you comments as I prepare my tax return..... you are right that a flat tax might help many...it will also not help,but hurt others. If you want to discuss this issue, set up a thread for that. Accountants may be parasites but probably no more than you or me. America is Great. Bob

To: OtherChap who wrote (827)	3/29/1998 11:17:00 PM
From: Kelvin Taylor	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 5810

Right on with the flat tax... A single rate sales tax on EVERTHING bought and sold could generate hundreds of billions of dollars without anyone having to be a tax expert to pay the tax. Think about it...not more forms, not more complicated tax brackets, not more IRS to get wrong info from. All taxes are collected at the point of sale and transferred to the Treasury. Simple, fast and not tax cheats. If the representatives of this country really care about tax issues this is the only way to go.

To: OtherChap who wrote (827)	3/30/1998 12:15:00 AM
From: Colin Cody	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5810

Chap, You are wrong on several counts. We HAD a flat tax passed in 1983 and phased in through 1985. It was SIMPLE then. TWO FLAT RATES 15% and 28%, period. Tax Shelters were thrown out, and taxes were easy except for the transition rules. That was then. In the past 12 years CONGRESS has expanded those two flat rates to about TEN rates on income, TWO rates for FICA/Medicare, a sliding scale for Social Security being taxable, and several excise / luxury taxes. So you think having another flat tax now would be different? DREAM ON, Friend! >What's the magazine (forbes?) that does a study every year where >they hire 10 tax preparation firms, furnish them all with the exact >same information about a ficticious client, and every year for the >last 25 years each firm has come up with completely different >results.. That is MONEY Magazine. Agreed, they make a good point each year they do it! >A flat tax would put many accountants out of business, but that's >not my problem- they are an obsolete parasite on our financial >system that need to be eliminated. What's your gripe about accountants? Are you a lawyer or something? A new tax would more likely INCREASE THE NEED for ACCOUNTANTS. Where do you get the idea that a new taxing system would decrease the need for accounting? Do you think no one will keep track of their books in the future?? Quite naive, if I say so myself... >Hopefully we can all soon fill out our tax forms on the back of a >postcard.. You MAY DO EVEN BETTER TODAY. Taxpayers can use the TELEFILE SYSTEM and do their annual taxes in a few minutes by pressing buttons on their telephone... OR they can file with their Personal Computer if they want to. OR they can file a one page 1040EZ form. WHAT'S the BIG DEAL??? >"Estimated" taxes are the biggest scam since social security.. If >you overpay, you don't get any interest on the money (while the IRS >happily draws interest on it) but if you underpay, you get >penalized. Either way you are screwed. Aint america great? Why would this problem change in the slightest way just because the tax rates became "flat"?? Again a very simplistic and naive observation.... Colin