Watch out for “Hillarytax”
So, here we go – head first into another election year! And you Hillary fans, out there, should not forget her recent promise to go even beyond Obama’s desired tax schemes, and “to make sure the effective tax rate paid by millionaires reflects a truly fair tax system,” according to one of her aide’s recently.
Recall that Obama, once upon a time, propounded the so-called “Buffett Rule” (named for his buddy, Warren Buffett, billionaire investor.) Obama thinks taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes exceeding $2 million should pay a minimum tax rate of 30% – vastly higher than the rate applicable to various forms of investment income presently taxed at a top rate of 23.8%.
“The Buffett Rule says that millionaires should pay at least 30% income tax rates….and I want to go even farther,” chirped Hillary recently. “I want to be the president of the struggling, the striving and the successful.”
Nice.
And obviously former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf likes Hillary’s prescription. Quoth Doug, “If we make changes to federal spending and taxes, we should make them in ways that impose most of the burden on the affluent, because those are the people who have benefited the most from growth in output and income over the past few decades.”
Unstated by Dougie: those are also the folks who take the risks and invest the capital which fuels growth and provides jobs, whom he and Hillary would propose to punish.
And isn’t it time somebody stood up to the morons pleading for abolition of the IRS? We hold the Revenooers in as low esteem as anybody, but let’s get real. Even National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, in recently suggesting that IRS could, indeed, be smaller, points out the notion that the agency could be abolished is basically impractical.
“I don’t know how people think that would happen,” quoth Nina. “People talk about, ‘Oh, all we need is a postcard’ (to file taxes on). Well, you’re going to need some agency that you send a postcard to, and you’re going to need some employees to process that postcard.”
Not to mention someone to administer the system’s complex laws and regulations.
CONSULT YOUR TAX ADVISOR – This article contains general information about various tax matters. You should consult your CPA regarding the implications to your own particular situation.
Jeff Quinn, the author of this article, is retired from the firm of Ashley Quinn, CPAs and Consultants, Ltd., with offices in Incline Village and Reno. He welcomes comments at [email protected].
