[net.taxes] taxes

jrl@harpo.UUCP (j. liano) (03/20/84)

     One question has always come to mind around this time of
 year. That being when you pay taxes on your income (federal),
 you cannot deduct your social security taxes. Since this is a
 large sum these days, and it is NOT income (you can't spend it)
 what would happen if you took the deduction. Chances are that the
 IRS would nail you to the wall. Another idea is that in the U.S.
 our governments are based on a hierarchy. That being your local
 government comes first, your state comes second and the federal
 comes last. Based on this logic one should be able to pull off
 somethinf like this:



     Pay your local taxes based on your full gross income
     pay your state taxes on gross income minus local taxes paid
     pay your federal taxes on gross income minus local taxes, state
     taxes and social security taxes.

Another thing that needs to be done is the adjusting of the tax tables
for inflation. For example say in 1950 you made 20K. Well that 20K 
enabled you to buy a home and a car (new !) and still have 2K left
over for the fed. (based on a 10% bracket). Well in 1984 that 20K
puts you in the 23% bracket and there is no way with what is left
that you could buy a car, let alone a house. What has happened is
that people who are < 30 must accept a lower standard of living than
their parents did. Thus our concept of an upward mobile society has
been shot to hell by a group of self serving wise old men. Roosevelt
started it with the Social security program, Johnson added to it with
the Medicare/Medicaid system, and Reagan is adding to it with the defense.

By the time that the baby boom generation retires, the working populus
will be paying around 50% of their income to support us. I don't think
that the people will be so docile that they will stand for this. But we
put up with todays tax rate don't we ?