Tax simplification doesn't win votes. A complicated tax system does win votes. Is your campaign weak with car wash owners? Add 2k lines to the tax code and make washing your car at a car wash tax deductible. Can't seem to get over the hump with the dog walker demographic? Another 1200 lines to the tax code will ensure their votes when you give them tax deductions on dog doo bags.
Many tax code simplifications amount to tax increases, and some of the best of those are hard to sell to the middle class, e.g. eliminating home mortgage deduction. And taxes on capital gains should be higher.
Depends on what you set as the deduction for a flat-rate tax. I don't think the voter has had any effect on tax law in a long time. It is all special interest groups and people trying to influence behavior through taxes.
I would love them to eliminate the home mortgage deduction, because it is another factor encouraging people to buy homes when they shouldn't. I would also say taxes on capital gains should be zero. Too many normal Americans don't have traditional pensions and will need the tax break in later years.
Doesn't work: see Britain's current recession. Cutting government spending when the economy is depressed will cause the economy to become more depressed, at which point tax revenues will go down, causing you to wish for more spending cuts... economic death spiral (think runaway inflation in reverse).
I'm a little confused, all the graphs I see of UK spending are upwards. They have not cut overall spending. The best I can say is the rate of growth of spending declined.
Comments
"long term plan to deal with the country's debt through a mix of tax increases and spending cuts"
Skip the tax increases and do the spending cuts.
We do need some serious tax simplification, but Congress is way too fond of using what should be a simple revenue raiser for social engineering.
Tax simplification doesn't win votes. A complicated tax system does win votes. Is your campaign weak with car wash owners? Add 2k lines to the tax code and make washing your car at a car wash tax deductible. Can't seem to get over the hump with the dog walker demographic? Another 1200 lines to the tax code will ensure their votes when you give them tax deductions on dog doo bags.
Yep, you're right. Doesn't mean I have to like it much. I do think you could make a campaign out of hating TurboTax though.
Many tax code simplifications amount to tax increases, and some of the best of those are hard to sell to the middle class, e.g. eliminating home mortgage deduction. And taxes on capital gains should be higher.
Depends on what you set as the deduction for a flat-rate tax. I don't think the voter has had any effect on tax law in a long time. It is all special interest groups and people trying to influence behavior through taxes.
I would love them to eliminate the home mortgage deduction, because it is another factor encouraging people to buy homes when they shouldn't. I would also say taxes on capital gains should be zero. Too many normal Americans don't have traditional pensions and will need the tax break in later years.
Doesn't work: see Britain's current recession. Cutting government spending when the economy is depressed will cause the economy to become more depressed, at which point tax revenues will go down, causing you to wish for more spending cuts... economic death spiral (think runaway inflation in reverse).
I'm a little confused, all the graphs I see of UK spending are upwards. They have not cut overall spending. The best I can say is the rate of growth of spending declined.