I worked for the IRS and survived. I learned about taxpayers, but the really interesting part of it was learning about tax-takers.
We all have this vague notion of people who don't pay taxes but receive money from Uncle Sam in what euphemistically is called a tax refund. That's what I had, a vague notion, until I was forced to close my business in 2010. I took a seasonal job with the Internal Revenue Service to get some household cash flow going. We "Timmy Geithner warriors" were appalled by what we learned.
We generally knew that 47 percent of our population pays no income taxes whatsoever. However, we didn't know, and I suspect that very few of you know, how much of your tax money is actually given to non-taxpayers -- in a lump sum, to do with as they please. Over lunch we joked that half the tattoo parlors in America would go under without Uncle Sam's largesse. Only later I learned that was closer to the truth than a joke.
Like most anti-poverty programs, the Earned Income Tax Credit when enacted in 1975 was supposed to be temporary. It was visualized as a tool to lift the working poor out of poverty. It was quickly made permanent and has been modified numerous times over the ensuing 36 years. In 2004, 20 million families received $36 billion. The flower children assume that was $36 billion spent on food, shelter, and health care. We who live in the real world know it was spent on big-screen television sets, 22-inch chrome wheels, and colorful tattoos.
This article was submitted by a reader. – Ed.
1 comment:
And this is only the income tax.
People, look at how the government has wriggled it's way into every aspect of life with taxes.
1. Look at your phone bill.
2. Look at your electric bill.
3. Go buy a six pack of beer and understand that about 1/3 of the price is tax.
4. Tolls
5. Real estate tax.
6. State and local income tax
When you start to look around you will see that we are being taxed to the hilt.
The Dumbocrats like to say that during the 80's the taxes were lower, but they're conveniently forgeting about all the new places we're being taxed.
I'm certainly not a rich person, but when I add up all the taxes I pay, it come to over 50%
Enough is enough!
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