Do you think a tax system that is so complicated that most citizens can't even understand it and have to pay someone else to figure it out is fair?

[RingOfFire]

The US Tax Code with regulations and guidance is about SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND pages long.

Not a single person in the country knows even a fraction of what is in it. And even the EXPERTS who DO know parts of it often disagree about their interpretation.

Yet, if you don't follow every rule, file every form, pay every penny, you will be fined or worse. How can people comply with something no one even understands? That just sounds unconstitutional.

We didn't even have a regular income tax until 1913 and every year since the tax code has gotten broader, bigger, more onerous and more impossible to comprehend. It has given the government more and more intrusion into you privacy and your life, taken more an more of what YOU earned to be spent by someone else and consumed more and more of your precious time to have to deal with.

Now we are paying tens of billions of dollars to pamper and attract illegal aliens? Who wants this stuff to happen? Not the ordinary citizens. So who?

Does this even sound like America to you?

What ever happened to "Land of the free?" How are you free when the average American in 2024 will be giving every penny they earn From January 1 to April 18th to the government? You are having FOUR MONTHS of your hard work stolen every year.

It's bad enough you are being robbed. But you also need to hire someone to figure out how much they will rob? Are you kidding?

This is unAmerican. We need to SCRAP the income tax system and come up with one that is not filled with corruption and that is simple and comprehensible to the average American.

It's not only a matter of fairness, it's a matter of FREEDOM!

The US tax system is NOT fair. It is a violation of my freedom. It needs to be completely scrapped and replaced with a simple system citizens can understand and TAXES NEED TO BE CUT.

I'm a Democrat so I believe that freedom is way overrated. We love taxes. I have no problem with an incomprehensible 75,000 page tax system that no one understands and can be used for corrupt people in government to line their pockets at my expense and force people to comply with government tyranny.

[IslaTheWitch]

In Germany, even specialists don't really understand the tax system... especially how to get a return, what should be deducted from the taxes paid and what from the tax base... what can be deducted, and in what amount... My first year of calculating my return by myself :D

[RingOfFire]

That's a sure sign of a corrupt government.

[IslaTheWitch]

tbh, the corruption is quite small here... :D I'm not quite sure how it works, but somehow, in Germany, everything works... and somehow is a good word :D

[itsclearlynicholas]

In my country, Isla, the tax system I find fairly uncomplicated and I pay my taxes and do my tax return each year that it's due. Merrily and smiley 😌😁

[IslaTheWitch]

@itsclearlynicholas nice

[RingOfFire]

@itsclearlynicholas

Since you enjoy it so much I'd be happy to let you do my tax returns as well if you wish. 😊

[bolverk]

If you need a tax lawyer/accountant to be able to sort out your tax then the the Tax Code is unfair to the majority,
I was extremely happy that when I lived in the US for 10 years I was paid by my UK employer where the tax is done by the employers accounts dept through the UK's Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax system, and if too much tax is taken you automatically receive a Rebate Check at the beginning of the next Financial Year (April) when everyone working receives notice of their Tax Code (a P60)

[exitseven]

The tax code is changed every year to favor certain groups or encourage certain behaviors. President Trump gave a big tax cut to the middle class to give ordinary Americans more money at the end of the year as a way to get more votes.

There is a big tax credit to buy an electric car so people will buy more electric cars.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[ApplePie409]

Both sides of the isle have been promising to change it for decades. They haven't kept their promise. We need term limits. One and done.

[RingOfFire]

Yes, but how it is structured is critical. The terms in the House should be longer.

[ApplePie409]

I disagree. Serve to make a change, and then go back to your normal job, and let someone else serve.

[itsclearlynicholas]

Isn't the U. S. Presidency already term limited to two 4 year terms? 😳

[ApplePie409]

@itsclearlynicholas

8 years

[itsclearlynicholas]

So what's the term limits you're referring to?

[itsclearlynicholas]

Quote "we need term limits"

[ApplePie409]

@itsclearlynicholas

You're not an American.

[RingOfFire]

"I disagree. Serve to make a change, and then go back to your normal job, and let someone else serve."

Here is what you may be missing.

Senators serve 6 year terms, but House members only serve 2 year terms.

The way it works currently, 2 year terms are crippling the House because members are essentially running for office every minute they have the job. As soon as they are elected, they are starting their campaign for the next election. That's not good because they cannot focus on what they are supposed to be doing.

The other problem is that it takes time to get good at the job. Two years is just a warmup. If you are only going to have a single term, it needs to be long enough that there will be some experienced people on the job. If you don't do that you risk having a congress with no experience. That's not good either.

One term is an option, but it has to be a long term in order to be effective. Two years is way too short to develop the experience needed to run a country of 350 million people and the largest economy in the world.

And lastly, there has to be some incentive in order to attract anyone, let alone people with the ability to do the job to spend millions of dollars and go through a grueling campaign. If the term is too short, no talented people will want the job. There needs to be an incentive that attracts talent.

[itsclearlynicholas]

@ApplePie409 and that's still a mighty fine picture of an apple pie with ice cream 🥧🍦 and i am not American indeed, didn't say I was one, yet happily I love dessert pies over meat pies lol mmmm 😋

[ApplePie409]

And how's that been working out for you?

[itsclearlynicholas]

@ApplePie409 even if it was a large scoop of butter, 🧈 mmm 🤤

[itsclearlynicholas]

I miss the old pie picture now lol 😆 🥧🥧🥧😞

[Dongie]

Well, I honestly couldn't read all that about tax codes and shit. I picked the first of course. I'm with those who see income tax and property tax as illegal. There are probably more. A sales tax in limited condition is all that's needed. Stop making elected officials multimillionaires. Minimum wage for ALL beurocrats.

[KostasKouvalis]

My mom grew up in communist Poland and she said your company took care of all your tax stuff. I don't know why the Americans always have to make everything so complicated

[RingOfFire]

The tax code is so complicated for one reason. To allow corrupt people in government to exploit it to steal money from the citizens and to hold a sword over the people so that they rule them under threat of punishment if they do not comply.

[KostasKouvalis]

youtube.com/shorts/xtmTwSi9oD4?si=O1v9OSDr_bV2tm2w

[OtterMan68]

no, it's so politicians' rich donors can get tax breaks and shelters

[bobby_bush_eater]

As someone who works in private equity K-1s I will tell you it is 100% purposely over complicated

[RingOfFire]

Indeed. The more complicated the more corruption is possible AND the more control it gives government over the governed.

[itsclearlynicholas]

I'm not American, most likely I'd be a Democrat. And I'd say that I never have a problem with taxes or paying taxes in my country, so if I was an American, I'd just embrace taxes and pay taxes merrily. After all, Ned Flanders, new years eve episode of the Simpsons he's already doing his taxes at midnight lol 🗃️🗄️

[itsclearlynicholas]

That was a mighty fine episode scene sequence 🎆🎇 📺👀😋

[itsclearlynicholas]

I know I voted B, if I was an American, of I'd be a happy go lucky Democrat lol 😆 bliss 😄

[shortster]

The only fair tax is a flat tax. And the government doesn't deserve a penny over 5%.

[RingOfFire]

Agreed. Exempt the poverty level of income from tax and apply a flat tax to everything above that.

5% or less sounds right to me, but unfortunately I think that ship has sailed and government has gotten so bloated, powerful and corrupt that none of this will ever happen.

Americans made the fatal mistake of giving the government too much power over the people, and once that happens it is likely impossible to reverse. We have reached the point where the country is government centric instead of individual centric. The central theme of the US Constitution has been trashed.

[CuriousMufuxka]

I do not agree with either of your vote examples. With that said, I don't like paying 21% of my on record weekly earnings because I slightly make more than the 18% bracket.

[Anonymous]

You forgot an option: "I'm a Republican: I think it's great there's so many ways for people who can afford accountants and/or rich people can manipulate the tax code to game the system, so working class and middle-class people have an effectively higher tax rate than billionaires. Also we don't need to file our taxes for free on the IRS website because republicans in congress need those donations from TurboTax and H&R Block."

[NathanDavis]

most people don't want to understand most things in the first place

[SaoirseS]

Most of it doesn’t apply to the average citizen anyway.

[NathanDavis]

@SaoirseS very true...

[AngryCarl]

The system is complicated so that poor people don't have to pay more than they can afford. Otherwise you could just charge everyone a flat rate. Or just abolish taxes and government and go back to living in caves.

[worldscolide]

its bullshit. Plus you get no say in how your tax dollars are used...

[itsclearlynicholas]

Embrace the taxes. Mmm delicious file cabinet 🗄️ 🗃️ 📄🗒️📃✏️📝 mmm paper, documents, office work, paperwork, computers 🖥️💻 printing: taxes sounds fun and enjoyable.

[itsclearlynicholas]

Anyways in my country tax returns nowadays are just lodged online as they've been down so for years, paper is like old fashioned

[itsclearlynicholas]

*done so for year (down was a typo)

[itsclearlynicholas]

*years (another typo, forgot an s)

[Twalli]

Write out a new tax system that is fair. You can't get rid of something without a replacement in place.

[noohair]

Life is not fair so why should taxes be fair?

[gorydetails]

Taxation is theft.

[jimmy2]

I got a 6 month waiver