Split from: Beautiful Bitcoin Tax outline

[2bfree]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

[EvilPanda]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

Yes it is wrong but governments and ethics don't go well together 

[Kazimir]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

Do you want to live in a country that has public facilities and services, proper educational system, infrastructure, justice system, etc? If yes, how would you suggest they (=the government) pay for it?

[Bitcoinpro]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

[Hawker]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

No its not.  Your income reflects the way society is set up and as such the society you live in decides what percentage of it you keep.

[FenixRD]

OP,

Please note that most folks paid zero attention in history, and also had no intention to learn it on their own. I was homeschooled through elementary, went to public school for 2 years, and dropped out, in order to "homeschool" myself. I bought textbooks from bookstores and then took classes at the local college. I then went to MIT. I take this as a core reason for my success.

Most folks don't question or know anything, and are so firmly indoctrinated that you would need to lobotomize them to repair their malnourished synapses.

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=57

US Income Tax, established 1913, as ratified by the 16th amendment. Most folks, guaranteed, believe an income tax was always a part of things here. It was not. Certainly not the way the code works now.

It had good purpose. It was not meant to be one of such complexity, or one where there is income tax, but a thousand others as well, such that every penny that you touch has had approximately 6 cents in taxes paid on it, in transit. (Before the shouting due to poor math and reasoning skills, citing that we don't pay 6x our income in taxes: I never said that. Look into the lifespan of a penny, and its V relative to other denominations.)

[Pente]

The sad thing is that goverment can survive without resorting to immoral taxes.

Immoral taxes include wealth taxes, income taxes, inheritance taxes. These are taxes based upon your personhood and the fact that you were born in a particular country. I am expected to pay taxes to the USA even on money I earn in another country.

Moral taxes include taxes on land, mineral & oil rights. These are taxes based on the land owned by the government.

There is no reason why a government could not rely solely on taxes based on land. These would include property taxes, leasing land, mineral rights, and water rights. A rational government would then spend a majority of that money on infrastructure which would improve the value of it's property and allow it to get even more taxes. Money could also be spent to create a local armed force that would protect it's investment from foreigners. Under this system, it would also be rational to support local services like low-cost hospitals and parks. These would improve tax revenue from the surrounding cities.

[quone17]

The sad thing is that goverment can survive without resorting to immoral taxes.

Immoral taxes include wealth taxes, income taxes, inheritance taxes. These are taxes based upon your personhood and the fact that you were born in a particular country. I am expected to pay taxes to the USA even on money I earn in another country.

Moral taxes include taxes on land, mineral & oil rights. These are taxes based on the land owned by the government.

There is no reason why a government could not rely solely on taxes based on land. These would include property taxes, leasing land, mineral rights, and water rights. A rational government would then spend a majority of that money on infrastructure which would improve the value of it's property and allow it to get even more taxes. Money could also be spent to create a local armed force that would protect it's investment from foreigners. Under this system, it would also be rational to support local services like low-cost hospitals and parks. These would improve tax revenue from the surrounding cities.

I'm not a crazy liberal, but at the same time I think that land taxes would not be enough for things like a social safety net.  I love the IDEA of no and minimal taxes, and in fact I want them lower than they currently are, but we as a society decided that it's better to pay taxes to help people not starve than to let everyone keep what they earned.   There are abuses, as well, I'm not disputing that.

[FenixRD]

The sad thing is that goverment can survive without resorting to immoral taxes.

Immoral taxes include wealth taxes, income taxes, inheritance taxes. These are taxes based upon your personhood and the fact that you were born in a particular country. I am expected to pay taxes to the USA even on money I earn in another country.

Moral taxes include taxes on land, mineral & oil rights. These are taxes based on the land owned by the government.

There is no reason why a government could not rely solely on taxes based on land. These would include property taxes, leasing land, mineral rights, and water rights. A rational government would then spend a majority of that money on infrastructure which would improve the value of it's property and allow it to get even more taxes. Money could also be spent to create a local armed force that would protect it's investment from foreigners. Under this system, it would also be rational to support local services like low-cost hospitals and parks. These would improve tax revenue from the surrounding cities.

I'm not a crazy liberal, but at the same time I think that land taxes would not be enough for things like a social safety net.  I love the IDEA of no and minimal taxes, and in fact I want them lower than they currently are, but we as a society decided that it's better to pay taxes to help people not starve than to let everyone keep what they earned.   There are abuses, as well, I'm not disputing that.

My stance is firmly this: if an average citizen cannot learn 95% of the tax code in a 1-week module in high school, where it should be taught, it is too complex. Only those with very unusual situations should require a CPA. For everyone else it should be 1000x less convoluted. It is unnaturally complex because an industry or two have sprang up around keeping it that way.

[thetruth]

I don't see why anyone has the right to take my income? isn't it wrong to tax any kind of income?

It is not about the "wrongs". Its about what you will do to protect your God-given rights. If they have arms and you don't then you better get yourself a gun or they may someday eat you alive on a whim.

[dissident]

it's not the taxes I have a problem with it's the tax code. Everything should be flat, automatic, with a flat amount taken off at the end of each year, no paperwork, no IRS. No deductions, no writeoffs.. just one flat percentage based on income...  if I'm holding bitcoin that has gone way up and using it as a currency, technically I have to track my cost basis as well as sale price every time I purchase something, to report my 'capital gain' in relation to US dollars, which I find needlessly complex and annoying.  After a while trading alts I'd imagine you don't even have a cost basis to use. It's kind of like trading stuff in the open market.. nobody pays taxes on used goods they trade around... that sort of thing...