Why does the US need an income tax? The country got along fine without one for years. Why do people now have to give up a large percentage of their income to taxes?
Uh, because we now have a federal infrastructure to support. We also have a huge ass military. Both of which were not large enough before income taxes were levied to be an issue.
Because the size of government has grown much larger than it was in the early days of the Republic. Did you think there was another reason?
There are proposal floated from time to time to replace the income tax with a national sales tax, but I think that’s got a snowball’s chance in hell of coming to fruition. The income tax is too ingrained in the whole American econominc system.
You might more realisticly lobby for a reduction in the income tax, rather than it’s abolition. But good luck!
Because without a Federal income tax, the Feds wouldn’t have enough money to enforce the anti-drug laws, and then we might have to legalize marijuana! :eek: Horrors!
To payfor the FBI, CIA , FEMA, EPA, FDA, FCC, ATF and the guy who makes up acronyms.
Well, I suppose we could get rid of income taxes and focus on other kinds…
Property taxes, sales taxes, estate (“death” :rolleyes:") taxes, “sin” taxes (cigarettes, etc.), and all the other ones. The more I’m on this board, the more I realize that people just don’t like paying taxes.
We gotta pay for invading other countries on a regular basis. 89 billion don’t grow on trees and armies don’t march on charity alone, y’know. Nowdays, wholesale looting, raping and pilaging is frowned upon. :dubious:
What’s wrong about interest on the debt? Sure, we pay more later… but in return we have more money now. There’s no real reason to be concerned about interest on the debt. What matters is how much we choose to spend, period, not what particular manner we choose to finance this spending.
Yeah, after all, the next generation worries about the interest. But at least, as you say, we have money now. :dubious:
Correction: People starved, died of preventable diseases and killed, raped and enslaved each other without penalty for years. If you wish to relive these halcyon days of yore, you might consider going on the run from the Inland Revenue in a log cabin in the woods. And if a group of armed Unabombers knock on your door and order you to join them or be summarily executed, in the words of Ray Parker Jr.: Who ya gonna call?
One of the more popular radio talk-show hosts in this neck of the woods has, in the past, advocated for the abolishment of the income tax, to be replaced by a sales tax. His argument? The underground economy in this country is one of staggering proportions, and it’s impossible to get income taxes out of it. Since EVERYBODY buys stuff, make the sales tax equate to the income tax, and reap more dollars. I’m terrible at math, what percentage of sales tax would be needed to arrive at this end. Say, if the underground economy was 15%[just a random figure] Is this guy way off base? He’s always been a bit radical, but backs up his pronouncements with facts. How 'bout it, good to go, or hit the road?
We don’t. The USA needs to have a Federal sales income tax that is controlled by a constitutional amendment.
If there is a Federal sales tax then everyone in the USA has to pay the tax and it is almost impossible to cheat the system, unless the two parties sell an expensive item like a car or a boat.
With the US sales tax, the government privitizes or turns over to the states almost all institututions. Things like the US Postal Service. The only institution that the US government supports that works is the military and the FBI. The rest is a joke, and can be administered better at the private or state level, hence the Federal sales tax would run about 5% percent or less.
www.lp.org check it out!
Let’s see:
We’ve got to fund the handouts-to-layabouts programs that the liberals adore, right?
I think that might be a wee bit extreme.
According to Tapioca Dextrin’s cite, the income tax is 48%. I think the federal government could to without at least say half of that.
We all get our taxes cut in half, and the government would have to cut spending by 25%.
The question “why does the US need to tax its citizens” has been adequately answered (by posters who are a bit deficient in OP reading ability, but I digress).
The question “why does the US need an income tax” is, simply, that the US does not need an income tax.
However, (1) an income tax (as opposed to, e.g., a national property, sales, or head tax) appeals to a lot of people’s sense of fairness (mainly related to the notion that one’s ability to pay a tax should be the measure of how much tax one pays), and (2) we’ve gotten pretty used to an income tax over the years, and despite the fact that many people think it’s too complex, there are many people who know a lot about it and are comfortable working with it (ahem).
So, now that an income tax is the status quo, the burden is more on those who would do away with it, so the question should really be “does the US need [a diffferent type of tax].” And every single year in Congress, several Congressmembers propose bills to replace the income tax with a national sales tax, and I don’t think one has ever made it out of committee.
The John Birch Society would like you!
(vanilla is no longer a member of these nutballs)
it’s been a while since i’ve done this sort of thinking, so feel free to correct me…
but wouldn’t a sales tax have a negative effect on the economy? isn’t it a disincentive to buy, especially expensive things like houses?
to me, calling an income tax “punishment for earning money”, as many are wont to do, is to cast it in an improper light. as has been pointed out, taxes are needed. ideally, everyone would pay taxes, whether they buy things or not. it seems fair that the more money people make, the more they ought to contribute to society. a progressive income tax, to me, seems a bit wacky, but income tax on the whole seems to make perfect sense.