Tax Cuts

[taxea]

Tax Cuts

to David1980...I try to keep up on any laws that have passed. The stimulus payment is the pain in the butt. I refer my clients to the IRS and tell them that my only involvement is to be sure that their 2007 return gets filed before the extension deadline and beyond that I have no control over the issue.taxea

[David1980]

This is all just a big "maybe". I choose to believe that the new prez can't make good on any "if elected I will" promises without the agreement of congress. I'll believe it when the law/s are passed and not concern myself or believe it until then.taxea

Doesn't mean you won't get calls on it though. I discovered the "bush tax credit" because someone asked me about it and wanted to know why they hadn't gotten their check yet. Never mind the fact it hadn't even been sent to congress at that point...

[Nashville]

Division of Powers

Constitutionally, it is the right and responsibility of Congress to be the steward of government finances, and not the Executive Branch. Congress thus has the "trump" card when it comes to the budget.

However, nearly all the money spent is spent by the agencies headed by the Presidents' cabinet. So it has become a function of the Executive Branch to submit the annual budget to the Congress. Most of the money submitted by the Executive branch survives, unless some items rise to attention.

Actually PAYING for the (mostly President's) budget becomes the problem of Congress, particularly the Ways and Means Committee. Congress adds more money to the budget based on their own wishes and special interests, and will not hesitate to add a provision or requirement to legislation especially if they know it is on track to becoming law.

Thus you hear all the talk about the president having "line item veto" power, and this has popular appeal, especially when Congress adds a bunch of pork barrel stuff for the special interests. But it is unconstitutional, as it stands right now. The President, however, DOES have the power of line item veto to his own budget prior to submitting it to Congress.

It is very typical for Presidents to blame Congress for these huge deficits, since this is constitutionally the province of Congress. However, none of these same presidents seem to ever submit a balanced budget. There's enough blame to go around.

[taxea]

Tax Cuts

This is all just a big "maybe". I choose to believe that the new prez can't make good on any "if elected I will" promises without the agreement of congress. I'll believe it when the law/s are passed and not concern myself or believe it until then.taxea

[David1980]

I'd love to see EIC separated from CTC.

Well, obviously those are two separate credits but you know what I mean. If part of the money is for the kid then the kid should get the money regardless of whether the parent works. If on the other hand it's a reward for the parent for working it shouldn't matter if they have kids or not. So I'd like to see EIC ignore the number of children one supports.. no, that's not the right word. I'd like to see EIC ignore the number of children one claims.

[erchess]

I used to beat my head

against the desk when I worked in an EIC shop. Now please understand that I am for the EIC but I wish it were not part of the tax system and were instead administered by the local DSS or even the local United Way. But I digress.

If someone had no tax I would say "Because your income was low this year you are not paying any tax. You are getting back your withholding of X and getting Y additional from society because we appreciate the fact that you worked."

If someone had tax I would say "Congratulations! You are a taxpayer! You are paying X in tax but because you had Y withheld and Z from society because you have to support a child (or children) your refund is A." I met no end of confusion from the latter group because their definition of "Taxpayer" was "Anyone who files a Tax Return" and of course they did not distinguish between "Tax Return" and "Request for Refund".

I actually developed a clientele of people who slowly changed their attitudes and their behavior. I had to talk one fellow out of going back on the factory line the year he got promoted to supervisor and no longer got EIC. But I showed him how his total income even with the increased tax burden had gone up and he went away happy. Well the next year he was the second highest supervisor in the plant and the next year was his last with me because he spent a year working that job in different plants around the country as part of a process of grooming him to become the top person at a new plant they were building somewhere. This man had his GED but his children all went to college and professional school. I still hear from him every once in a while even though I have moved.

[FEDUKE404]

Playing word games

The version I heard is that part of the "tax cut" mentioned by Sen. Obama actually refers to a bunch of people who ALREADY have no federal income tax liability. These folks would have more money given to them in a procedure not unlike an "enhanced" earned income tax credit.

I do think it is an interesting point as to whether folks with zero income tax liability 1) can receive a "tax cut" in the first place and/or 2) can be called "taxpayers" at all.

FE

[VT-EA]

To see how the tax plans compare fill in this blankety-blank blank.

http://www.electiontaxes.com/

[BHoffman]

Be a Patriot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCqgNWRjmAc&feature=related

[David1980]

pledges a tax cut for 95% of taxpayers.

You could make the argument that the person who is not paying any tax isn't a taxpayer.

[ChEAr$]

words of wisdom heard today:

Don't leave your dog in charge of your food, nor
congress to watch over you money.

[DTS]

One of the candidates pledges a tax cut for 95% of taxpayers. Really sounds good...Can anyone tell me how 95% of taxpayers are going to get a tax reduction when they don't have any taxes to begin with?

It's my understanding that this will be accomplished through p/r withholding, at least that is what that the surrogate for the candidate who proposed this says.

No w/h, no refund. Someone is going to be really mad around April 15th.

[Gary]

Other Candidate

And I heard the other candidate respond that 100% of the taxpayers would get a tax cut under his administration. They are all full of it. Besides, as we all know, the President doesn't determine the tax laws.

[ChEAr$]

Voting

(snipped for brevity....).

IMO, if you don't pay taxes, you don't get to vote.

Sounds like a plan. To check in to vote, bring a notarized copy of your tax return.

[ChEAr$]

Typical family of four

One of the candidates pledges a tax cut for 95% of taxpayers. Really sounds good.

For a family of four (with the children eligible for CTC), a typical wage-earner actually has no taxes until the family income exceeds $36K or thereabouts. Not sure of the exact demographics in rural Tennessee, but I'm sure there are at least 35-40% of households in my town whose income does not exceed this amount.

Can anyone tell me how 95% of taxpayers are going to get a tax reduction when they don't have any taxes to begin with?

whose children are under 17, don't have an income tax liability (regular situations) until
after 43,000$!

Now if I were King, they wouldn't get a tax cut, which in all probability will be an
extra rebate amount, sort of like earned income credit, but based only on income.

That sounds like "discrimination... unLESS.... I get one too.