Posted on 09/20/2011 8:44:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It depends on whether you consider draft dodging as moral or immoral.
At the federal level, we had excise taxes, import taxes. But of course we did not have EPA, education, energy, HHS and all the other unconstitutional bureaus etc. States and municipalities levied most of the total taxes then through sales, property tax etc.
Wow, just wow wow wow!
Go to that last link in the article and read what obamination is doing to this country and what he is doing w/ OUR TAX MONEY.
WHAT SHOULD TAKE THE PLACE OF TAXES?
Spending cuts should be a start. Several states have no tax due to income on gas, oil and such. Gas tax should be used to repair roads not go to welfare. Sales tax should be used on in the industry collected. Use tax would be a start. Just a start!
I agree. Not paying taxes may be illegal and an immoral act if the government levied a flat tax that met the needs of a limited government. The government is clearly acting immorally by exceeding its authority in every sense.
This would be similar to the moral delema faced by the people who used deception to hide Jews from Nazi authorities. In both cases, liberty is being preserved.
If you are going to evade or avoid taxes, you do have to weigh the risks and the benefits. And in the long run, that is probably your most important decision.
Why not look back in history and see how the LEGITIMATE functions of government were funded before the evils of income and property taxes were foisted upon We, the People. Funding only what the government is allowed by the Constitution to do would cost only a tiny fraction of what we pay now and could well be done by a few bake sales or similar fundraising...
The result of this will be to debase the advantages of being a US citizen. Eventually it will make it harder for companies to employ talented individuals in the US. It will contribute to the decline of the US as an economic power.
Learn more about Judge Hand - a judge who has been quoted more often than any other lower-court judge by legal scholars and by the Supreme Court of the United States.
It has no such moral claim - but it has a claim nevertheless. Likewise with monies earned overseas; the US and Eritrea are the only two nations that tax based upon citizenship, not locale. The US makes a claim to taxes on any money you earn anywhere in the world, if you're a citizen or permanent resident. Highly immoral - but a claim nevertheless.
As far as income taxes go, I'm not sure they are inherently immoral - but I do consider non-flat income tax rates as immoral. If we're going to tax income, then it should be a single flat rate that all pay, regardless of amount of income.
Is putting your money in a safe instead of leaving lying around for the burglars you know are coming for it moral or immoral?
RE: Is putting your money in a safe instead of leaving lying around for the burglars you know are coming for it moral or immoral?
Liberals will argue that using the term “burglar’ to make it analogous to government is not an apt use of the word.
After all, we do get something back from the government ( e.g. defending our shores, protection from crime, peace and order, infrastructure, social security, medicare etc.). We don’t get anything from a burglar. When the money is taken, it’s gone.
RE: the US and Eritrea are the only two nations that tax based upon citizenship, not locale
Interesting. Can you share with us your sources for this information?
Also, as a guy who's worked internationally a few times - and has several acquaintances and friends here in the US who are from foreign nations - I've confirmed it first-hand. My friend from Germany (and still a German citizen) who works at Microsoft doesn't pay German income taxes; only US taxes. But when I worked in Germany for 9 months I paid both US and German taxes.
We're pretty unique in that regard - you earn a dollar anywhere in the world, and even if you don't step foot in the US for the entire year, the US still wants a cut of your income - or proof that you gave taxes (at least equivalent to what you'd pay in the US) to someone else, on your first $107,000. Above that point - you get to pay foreign and US income taxes guaranteed.
Oh, and if you spend more than 35 days a year in the US, you don't even get to deduct those foreign income taxes you paid. Full double-taxation - your foreign domicile and US. Better plan your business trips and vacations back to the US with care, because staying here 1 day too long could cost you $30,000 in taxes.
This double taxation system of the USA looks immoral to me.
Do you think the double taxation system has any chance of being repealed if proposed in our Congress at all?
I’d be the first to support ANYONE ( Democrat included, although that will be when pigs fly ) if he/she proposes to end it.
EDIT TO ADD:
Double taxation (by citizenship ) is also stupid.
America will have to spend so much more money, time and resources snooping on citizens overseas, bullying foreign banks and generally making an ass of herself all for the sole purpose of grabbing cash.
Why not use those resources more efficiently back home (e.g. protecting us from terrorists ) instead?
It totally is. And we keep company with exactly one other nation in this regard - the total dictatorship known as Eritrea. At least their tax is only 2% on your earnings, not like what the US claims...
Do you think the double taxation system has any chance of being repealed if proposed in our Congress at all?
Nope. Not with the way so many in Congress are looking to maximize tax collections. It would be immediately branded as a "tax cut for the rich" because only "the rich" live overseas. Never mind several people I know who make less than $20,000 a year live and work overseas - because it IS a decent wage over there, and it's a fun adventure.
We're stuck with this until we get a solid conservative Congress (House and Senate) and a GOP President.
America will have to spend so much more money, time and resources snooping on citizens overseas, bullying foreign banks and generally making an ass of herself all for the sole purpose of grabbing cash.
Yep. Any many foreign banks are now contemplating pulling out of the US altogether because the IRS is demanding they provide any and all information about US citizens and US residents who have overseas bank accounts. It's not about setting up a logical system, but trying to squeeze every penny out of the current insane one.
Real simple way to eliminate the issue with overseas income being sheltered overseas - do what all other nations (save Eritrea) do: you earn a buck overseas, you don't have to pay taxes over there. That will encourage people to repatriate their overseas earnings, and that tends to be spent here in the US, rather than overseas.
Our tax system is the reason many corporations move chunks - or entirely - overseas, and why you have US residents and citizens trying to shelter funds outside the US. Our Government is greedy and vengeful to no end, even if it hurts our overall economy.
For goodness sake, our tax system is more fiscally restrictive than China! Source. Spend some time poking around at that link and you'll learn a LOT.
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