Tax Related 999 tax plan from Herman Cain

[kpangelinan]

The change in percentage of taxes paid by the top 1% has nothing to do with tax rates and everything to do with the percent of total income. If you increase the percent of U.S. income that goes to the top 1% while keeping tax rates fixed, they will pay a higher percent of total U.S. taxes. As a higher percent of U.S. income goes to the top 1% you would have to keep reducing their tax rates to keep the percent of U.S. tax paid by the top 1% the same.

It's a good point....I think I know what you're saying. Are you saying that the top 1% have a greater share of the tax burden, possibly because they've taken more of the share of income available...while the bottom 90% rec'd less of the available income (lower wages, unemployment, etc.)?

[joanmcq]

Yup, you've got it! The top 1% have a much larger share of the total pie than they did in the 80's. And when you consider total wealth....well let's not even consider that. It's too painful for the rest of us.

[DTS]

When it comes to political pudits that use to be a Dem and now a Repub OR a Repub and now a Dem, I usually stay clear. To me they just decided to spin their story the opposite way (no, probably not the truth, truth has no spin). Its a spinning money wheel for most of them.

Agree with you for the most part. I try to read between those lines.

[BHoffman]

There is no pie

There is no pie. The only way this would ever make sense is if one believes that wealth is held solely in the finite number of dollar bills. It is not. Millionaires and billionaires hold a lot of their wealth in non-leveraged assets like stocks.

Let's pretend I bought my house 15 years ago for $100,000 and paid it off. It's a non-leveraged asset.

At the top of the housing market, let's pretend my paid-off house was worth $500,000. Did I just take $400,000 from some poor guy? Nope.

At the bottom of the housing market, my paid-off house was worth $100,000. Did I just lose $400,000 to some rich guy? Nope.

Millionaires and billionaires are not hurting the poor and their wealth is not causing problems for the middle class.

Pretending that wealth exists as a big pile of dollars in a pie pan makes for good political rhetoric, but it makes no sense if you stop and really think about it.

[David1980]

Pretending that wealth exists as a big pile of dollars in a pie pan makes for good political rhetoric, but it makes no sense if you stop and really think about it.

Yes, it is true that an increase of wealth of one individual doesn't necessarily require an offsetting increase. But it's still not a good idea to look at the percent of total taxes paid by the top X% today versus 1980's and make a statement about tax increases/reductions based on that. If a greater % of income is going to that top X%, you would expect their share of total taxes paid to increase as well (without having an actual tax increase, the tax rate can actually go down while the % of total tax paid goes up.) Whatever the reason for that actual increase in % of US income earned doesn't matter.

So while it's not a pie, it doesn't really matter for that. A better way to compare taxes now versus then is to look at tax rates paid now versus tax rates paid then. The % of total taxes paid is pretty meaningless when you're trying to compare tax rates.

[Gary]

909

I just heard on TV that the Cain Plan is now 909. They didn't explain the detailed changes from 999.

[kpangelinan]

I just heard on TV that the Cain Plan is now 909. They didn't explain the detailed changes from 999.

I saw that too....there's supposed to be some empowerment zones across the US (economically troubled states) where there wouldn't be an income tax at all for the lower class. I'm sure there will be more stuff revealed as his campaign advances....there are still tons of questions for sure.

[Gary]

There Goes

simplification!!!

[AZ-Tax]

Cains 333 plan for health care on SNL

Saturday Night Live's Cain 333 health care plan is. 3- pills, 3 - MD visits & 3 - bowls of Chicken Noodle soup. Talk about lowering health care cost. : )

[S T]

Actually

That would not be a bad idea! i.e. Chicken Soup! and only 3 Dr visits per year!

Has anyone taken a look at the "side effects" of some of the prescription drugs! If you listen to the side effects on TV or read the fine print - one would never want to take another RX Drug prescribed.



Sandy

[newbie]

I saw that too....there's supposed to be some empowerment zones across the US (economically troubled states) where there wouldn't be an income tax at all for the lower class. I'm sure there will be more stuff revealed as his campaign advances....there are still tons of questions for sure.

They are no longer empowerment zones but "Opportunity zones". Get rid of all entitlements and enact selective entitlements. He has released his "revised" plan to selective media.

[kpangelinan]

simplification!!!

Taxes and simplification do not and will never go together. But the 999, 909, 333, FairTax, or whatever will be more simple than what we have now....that is agreed upon by everyone...that I see anyways.

[Jiggers]

Putting us out of business...........

Everyone is asking me what I will do when Herman Cain closes the IRS and puts us all out of business.

I explain that someone is going to have to collect the taxes and report them. Especially for all those cash transactions that farmers and other self-employed have.

And I tell show them that they are going to pay more taxes using this 999 or whatever.

And I am going to double my fees and enjoy the new business and laugh all the way to the bank.

Then they shut up........................

[taxxcpa]

Tax code

The best we can hope for is something like the Simpson-Bowles plan that cuts out all, or most, of the credits and deductions. Even if every credit and deduction has a worthwhile social engineering goal, it seems to defeat the purpose by having a tax code so complicated that business decisions revolve around the tax code. Its like the tail wagging the dog.