...Tax Reform Racket First and foremost let us begin by clarifying that we are by no means economists. However, we are United States taxpayers, and we know us as well as our neighbors are being robbed. For a better understanding of this let us look at a few areas that led to this. These areas include Article I section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Civil War, and the 16th Amendment. Article I section 8 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the power, The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States. ("Constitution of the United States - Official") This is all well and good, however things start to get a little heated in America come 1861. Unfortunately we split and Civil War began and come 1862 America needed a way to finance a war against itself. Thus came the federal income tax, also know as the Revenue Act. Though the Civil war contributed to one of the greatest social victories of mankind it has led to the beginning to America’s loss of liberty. (Edwards) In April 1865 Uncle Sam Removed the chains of slavery in the U.S. on African Americans then in 1913 applied them to all Americans the 16th Amendment. Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard...
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...government. The purpose of taxes is to fund the government, the military, and services to low-income families. Programs such as food stamps, housing, Social Security, public school, and healthcare are available due to taxes. The tax system is based on the “ability to pay.” As an individual’s income increases, so does their taxable income rate. In my view, I do not like taxes. Looking at a hard earned paycheck and viewing the taxes that are withheld is quite depressing. However, I feel taxes are necessary. Taxes can be viewed as our dues to society. When everyone pays their fair share, everyone can gain some benefits. Various ways taxes benefit society include infrastructure, public school, and public services. Some believe that those who benefit from taxes should be the ones who pay the most taxes. However, I do not think so. Those who are able to pay for taxes should pay them. If America had a flat tax rate, a system in which one tax rate is applied to the whole population, there would be a widened gap between the rich and the poor. Low income families are not able to pay taxes due to the already significantly low income they do have. Therefore, survival would be rather difficult. I feel that the taxes imposed currently are fine. However, a reform that I do think would be beneficial is extending the period to file taxes and making it easier to file. Many people find it rather difficult to file, or need additional time. By extending the period, the process could go by a bit...
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...Tax Reform Position Paper Taxes are necessary because they fund the services provided by government. Americans will pay trillions in taxes. Beyond funding government, the federal tax system has profound effects on the economy as a whole and on individual taxpayers, both for today and tomorrow. Taxes change people’s behavior and influence the economy by altering incentives to work, consume, save and invest. This affects economic growth and future income, therefore, future government revenues. In this paper I will highlight the pros and cons of flat tax, national sales tax, and the current tax system. Flat Tax Simplicity is considered a significant benefit of the flat tax system. One tax rate makes for easy calculation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and straight forward payments from taxpayers. Because the flat tax taxes only one income, it is easier to understand and to report. The flat tax remains a popular idea in part because it eliminates double taxation. It eliminates the death tax, capital gains tax and taxation of savings and dividends. Fairness remains a popular feature of the flat tax. A taxpayer who makes $5000 pays the same tax rate as someone who earns $500,000. The taxpayer who makes more pays more taxes simply because their income is greater. It does not discriminate based on income; everyone pays the same percent. Some of the cons of the flat tax are that the system penalizes the low-income portion of the population. For example, if the...
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...Report No. PF / HT / 010707 / 238 Sharing “OUR ” Ta Hum-Tum x Sav 1st July’ 07 A fortnightly refresher on Personal Income Tax ing Ti ps with “YOU” Allowances A I. II. III. llowance is a fixed monetary amount paid by the employer to the employee (over and above basic salary) for meeting certain expenses, whether personal or for the performance of his duties. These allowances are generally taxable and are to be included in gross salary unless specific exemption is provided in respect of such allowance. For the purpose of tax treatment, we divide these allowances into 3 categories: Fully taxable cash allowances Partially exempt cash allowances Fully exempt cash allowances (vi) (iv) Overtime Allowance When an employee works for extra hours over and above his normal hours of duty, he is given overtime allowance as extra wages. It is fully taxable. (v) Fixed Medical Allowance Medical allowance is fully taxable even if some expenditure has actually been incurred for medical treatment of employee or family. Servant Allowance It is fully taxable whether or not servants have been employed by the employee. (vii) Other allowances There may be several other allowances like family allowance, project allowance, marriage allowance, education allowance, and holiday allowance etc. which are not covered under specifically exempt category, so are fully taxable. I. FULLY TAXABLE ALLOWANCES (i) Dearness Allowance As is clear by its name, this allowance is paid to compensate...
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...Tax Reform: An Examination Tax Reform: An Examination A flat tax rate would be beneficial to all Americans. Critics of such proposals generally say that the wealthiest people in the nation would be the ones to benefit the most. The overall flat rate of tax would mean cuts for all Americans. The sheer simplicity of a flat rate is one of its biggest selling points. Rick Perry's plan offered in 2011 was imperfect, but it represented a overall structure and ideas. The focus of the plan scrapped, “the graduated income tax and replace it with a 20 percent flat rate. By throwing out rates as high as 35 percent and eliminating estate and investment taxes, the plan would grant a major tax cut for the wealthy…his proposal would also offer benefits to middle-class Americans by giving a $12,500 deduction for every member of a household while preserving exemptions for state and local taxes, mortgage interest and charitable contributions for anyone making less than $500,000. He said anyone could still file under the current code, and he also pledged to lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, from 35 percent” (Oppel, 2011). This means that taxes will be sliced for all groups in America: this will equate to more money for individual Americans, allowing them to make a greater investment in the private economy. The plan was criticized as being ambitious because of the fact that most Americans wanted to see the wealthier...
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...Louisiana Tax Reform: Eliminating Corporate and Franchise Taxes The relationship between tax policies and economic growth is a topic that has been frequently debated. For decades, economists have developed studies exploring this relationship and analyzing its effects. These studies concluded that a negative relationship exists between taxes and economic growth. Taxes have a negative impact on economic growth because of how they influence the activities individuals and firms choose to engage in. Businesses and individuals often base their decisions on the overall tax burden, which creates a disincentive to engage in activities taxed at a higher rate. The Tax Foundation evaluates each state’s business tax climate every year in order to indicate which states’ tax systems are the most attractive to business and economic growth. According to the Tax Foundation’s 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index, Louisiana’s tax system is currently ranked 32nd, far below the rankings of progressive southern states such as Florida and Texas. In addition, Louisiana’s tax structure is poorly perceived because of its complexity. Therefore, in order to create a competitive advantage, the Louisiana tax system must be reformed. Several of the states that rank highest in the 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index do not levy a tax on corporations. Furthermore, the average annual growth rates for those states without a corporate income tax exceeded the growth rate of all other states...
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...of this paper is to argue the need for tax reforms specifically aimed at addressing global issues in an increasingly interconnected world where tax laws are not designed for the digital age. It highlights the issues faced by countries due to ‘Base Erosion Profit Shifting ‘. The emphasis is mainly on two taxes, namely, ‘Diverted Profit Tax’ and ‘Digital Goods and Service Tax’, which are recently mentioned in the Australian Budget 2015. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) involvement to concrete changes to avoid Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) has been mentioned. UK’s ‘Google tax’ and the ‘Double Irish Dutch sandwich’ tax evading structure is explained in an effort to elucidate the steps taken by Australian Government to encounter issues similar to them. Facts are stated with regard to the current Australian economy meshing these two new taxes into the existing taxation system. A conclusion is drawn concisely assessing the enforcement of ‘Digital GST’ and ‘Diverted Profit’ taxes and their probable effects on the economy. 1. The need for comprehensive tax reform One of the prime ways of generating economic revenue is to improve the tax capabilities. A good tax system promotes sustainable growth, provides key platform for trade and investments and strengthens the accountability of government to their citizens. The growing complexity in business and technological advances has made it difficult for the existing tax system to keep in pace. Taxes were charged...
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...Forum on Tax Reform Fundamental Tax Reform: An International Perspective Abstract - This paper examines trends in tax reforms. The analysis is limited to the experience of 30 OECD countries, and focuses particularly on changes since the year 2000. The paper analyses the general trend of reductions in both tax revenues and rates and the diversity in tax policies across OECD countries, reflecting the diversity in both economic circumstances and policy objectives. Developments in tax administration are also briefly dealt with. Some of the challenges for tax policymakers and administrators that are likely to arise over the next few years are identified, and possible alternative approaches to solving them are put forward. INTRODUCTION ax reform is an ongoing process, with tax policymakers and tax administrators continually adapting their tax systems to reflect changing economic, social and political circumstances. Over the last two decades, almost all Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have undertaken structural changes to their tax system that have significantly altered the way these systems function and their economic and social impacts.1 In some countries (for example, many of the Eastern European economies in transition), the reforms have been profound and implemented over a very short period of time. In others (most of the European countries), the reforms have been a gradual process of adaptation, but over time they have substantially redesigned...
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...Fair Tax Reform The current economic situation of the United States can be blamed on a multitude of variables and is the fault of numerous politicians from both parties as well as an abundance of special interest groups with lobbying power, not to mention several Presidential administrations. This paper will not examine all of these variables or individuals; it will concentrate on the isolated issue of tax reform on the highest earners and how it negatively affects the federal deficit and income inequality inside of the United States. What this paper will prove is that if the United States does not raise taxes on the highest earners, history shows that the divide between rich and poor as well as the divide between surplus and deficit will only widen into the future. When President Ronald Reagan shrank the tax brackets in 1987, it was the beginning of a new economic era. The theory behind cutting taxes on the richest people was that with extra money, the most profitable companies and taxpayers would invest their extra capital into the market and in the process create more jobs, expanding the economy. This may not have been the catalyst for the service economy revolution but it certainly coincided with it. A significant amount of opportunity cost was invested into foreign markets creating a cheaper workforce abroad, while domestically shrinking the labor market. According to MIT professor James Poterba, income inequality began to increase after the 1986 tax reform. According...
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...Management Studies - IJEBMS ISSN: 2226-4809; EISSN: 2304- 6945 Vol. 2, No.1 (January, 2013) 12-19 Indexing and Abstracting: Ulrich's - Global Serials Directory Goods and Services Tax (GST): A New Tax Reform in Malaysia Nor Hafizah Abdul Mansor Faculty of Accountancy Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia Email: norha058@johor.uitm.edu.my Azleen Ilias College of Business and Accounting, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia Email: Azleens@uniten.edu.my Abstract The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is becoming one of the most prominent topics in Malaysia. The announcement by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance (MOF) in the Budget 2010 on the implementation of GST had created various reactions from practitioners, academicians, general public and most important businesses. GST is one of the tools that are proposed by the Government to reduce continuous deficit budget in Malaysia. This paper discusses the GST as a new tax reform in Malaysia, and covers several issues in order to enhance the understanding and readiness among Malaysian in adopting GST. Keywords: Tax reform; GST; budget deficit. 1. Introduction The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) was first announced in the Budget 2005 in order to replace the existing sales and services tax structure in Malaysia. This new tax reform is projected to be implemented in January 2007. However, the Government has announced on 22 February 2006 that the implementation would be postponed to a later date. Recently in Budget...
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...prohibition. -child welfare Child welfare was a reform that people didn’t see to clearly because they would leave their kids to do the work of a grown person. There were many problems with that parents would have very tired kids that have been working all day which cause them to miss school and other kid things. A few people and places that helped make this better were Lillian Wald on Henry street settlement in New York. The federal children’s boreal helped keep the children out of these sweat shops. -Prohibition Alcohol was a major part of woman getting beaten up by there husbands. The woman’s christen temperance union (wctu) were one of the main people to help stop the sell buy and producing of alcoholic beverages. Frances Willard was the head of the wctu from 1879 to 1898 which made the wctu force for temperance and for the rights of women -civil rights Many people were not allowed there rights such as being a girl and being able to work. African Americans fought for some of the same rights as white people such as ending poverty expanding child welfare. The national association of colored women was one of the largest organizations of African American women which were founded in 1896. By the 1916s the organization had more than 100,000 members and campaigned against poverty and segregation and, lynching. To conclude my presentation of one of the three most important reforms Id like to state that the prohibition reform was the worst one because people would get abused...
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...intelligent well educated athletes. There are just as many athletically talented academics. Either/Or 3. Any change in healthcare will lead to socialism; we don’t want to live in a socialist country, so we can’t reform health care in any way. To say that reforming healthcare would completely change how society operates is a giant leap. There can be healthcare reform without creating a socialist United States. Slippery Slope 4. All teenagers’ text while they drive, therefore we should raise the driving age to 21. To say all teenagers is an inaccurate generalization. To raise the driving age to 21 would solve the problem of teen texting while driving is not logical. Hasty Generalization 5. If we don’t all drive hybrid cars, the world will end in the next decade of environmental damage. There is no evidence to support a claim that the world will end in 10 years if we do not all switch to hybrid vehicles. The statement goes straight to the most dramatic result conceivable however unlikely it is. Slippery Slope 6. Senator Range has been seen entering a strip club; therefore his economic reforms are not plausible Though perhaps immoral to some, such action has no bearing on the ability of the Senator to create plausible economic reform. One of these actions is part of personal life, the other is an action specific to professional life. Red Herring 7. Everyone else is getting rid of TV therefore we should too. The only argument presented is...
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...influential ways to make a difference, and there truly is a way for everyone to express their feelings. There’s art, literature, videos, photography, giving each person a way to be artistically heard. Media gives an individual who may feel like a speck in the world, a bullhorn so they can be heard by millions. Media doesn’t just reach to the people who it was originally directed to, it can reach to many different groups of people and eventually the world, making it an empowering way for your opinion to be heard. It seems like whenever there is a political debate or the news is on, issues regarding schools are constantly brought up. School reform is something that our government is always trying to regulate, but are these politicians always the best qualified to make the decisions about schools? Students are never asked their opinions on the reforms and laws that are directly impacting their education and consequently their lives. Documentaries are frequently made regarding issues in schools, but they are from the point of view of people not directly involved in the issue, giving it an outside clear view on what the issue truly...
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...During the turn of the 19th century, Toronto became part of the industrialization and urbanization phase. With that came the migration of single women to the city, women who left their small towns in order to find paid jobs in the city of Toronto. These were young single women who broke free from the unpaid working women of the past, although their freedom to work came with a price. While these young working girls were trying to make into the world, many discouraged such notions of working in the city factories and shops due to the idea that these women would jepordize their shift into a housewife or motherhood. This idea was known as the girl problem, a delimma that needed to be dealt with because of the cross between exploiting women for cheap labor or creating women who would be healthy, respectable mothers someday. While these women worked to stay alive, they were given low wages, while men who worked were paid much higher. Their freedom as working women who spent their time working during the day and shopping and entertaining themselves was looked upon as suspicious. Due to suspicions of women working, the police developed a way of monitoring what women did in the public sphere. Also an oganizaiton known as YWCA became over-seerers of women, they began to deecide wh was a retspectable women or who was a deviant in society. Many of these women just wanted to have the same freedoms that a single man might have, they face discrimintation in the workplace and were serverly...
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...Maitri A Shah English 4/12/2016 Should immigration laws be reformed Promising freedom and opportunity, the United States attracts individuals to come to the USA. But the current immigration system in the united states is broken: families are isolated, immigration workers are exploited, people die trying to cross the border, and there is rampant discrimination. The government should be for reforming immigration laws because it keeps families together and creates rational process of citizenship for new Americans etc. The first reason why immigration should be reformed is economy benefits by immigration reforms. Immigration reform would increase U.S. GDP by at least 0.84 percent. According to the American immigration council, “This would translate into at least a $1.5 trillion cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years, which includes approximately $1.2 trillion in consumption and $256 billion in investment”. Second, immigration system can uphold children’s basic human rights and ensure access to critical public services, programs, and economic supports for children and their families. It can ensure that children receive legal representation before all immigration authorities and, for all unaccompanied children, the appointment of an independent child advocate from the moment of detention throughout the course of any immigration or other related court proceedings. The other reason is it keeps family together Under today’s broken immigration system, many...
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