Nearly 15-hundred millionaires paid no taxes in 2009
John Morgan photo
By GARY BAUMGARTEN
The Los Angeles times reports that 1,470 millionaires paid no taxes in 2009.
How did they get away with this? Quite legally.
They were either tax exempted because of their foreign investments. Or because they gave to charity.
So let me see if I get this right.
Republicans oppose lifting tax exemptions from the very wealthiest of our fellow Americans because they, the rich folk, are “job creators.” But, according to the IRS, the jobs they are creating, aren’t in the USA. They are on foreign soil.
Then there are those who argue that the government should not be involved in social programs. That’s something for the churches and other private agencies to provide. It’s called charity.
But the rich people who gave to charity were then exempted from paying taxes. So, isn’t that the same as if the government paid that money directly to the charities?
There are those who are concerned about the growing list of people on the other, lower, end of the economic spectrum, who aren’t paying income taxes. They note, as the LA Times does, that the total percentage of Americans who are tax exempted is 46 percent. A staggering number. But why aren’t they paying taxes?
Mainly because they are out-of-work. Many of them suddenly and prematurely unemployed. If you don’t have income, you don’t pay taxes.
Some people say low income folk who aren’t paying taxes are bringing this country down. They’re not, it is argued, paying their fair share.
One fellow told me the poor should not be subsidized by the government at all. They should subsist on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There was a bit of resentment in that statement, which, I actually understand. The guy who made it is barely eking out a living himself.
But I’ll tell you what. I’d rather be part of the 54 percent who are paying taxes than the 46 percent who are not. Unless, of course, I was a millionaire.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Julie Morse
Ande Bliss
Barbara Joanne
Marilyn Sands
Susie Lindau
RomanticPoetess
Salon.com
Comments
It's called INCOME tax for a reason.
-R-
Furthermore, I am grateful to You for posting this.
Sorry for any confusion.
Have a great day!
Many, even, refuse to source their material, as I'm sure You've noticed, Gary.
No it is not. If I give money to a charity they get 100% of what I give. If the government takes it in taxes two things happen. First the government takes their share for overhead then passes the balance to a charity so they get less than if it was a direct donation. Secondly, the government decides who their favorite charity is. If I give it goes to who I think is able to do best with my money.
Now if only they were inside it.
-r-
Nevertheless, this qualifies as the BIG problem of the day? Are you kidding?
The fact that 46% of us do not pay taxes is NOT the big problem in your mind because you claim is that they are "mainly" unemployed. However, the last time I checked our unemployment rate was 9.2%, and nowhere near 46% . . or. . . 26% . . . . or. . . . . even 16%. . . .
Further, does it not occur to you that there might be significant differences between the types of charitable giving derived from the forcible takings of government versus the voluntary giving of one’s wealth to the unfortunate?
Lastly, tax DEDUCTIONS for charitable contributions often require the expenditure of $1 for a (approximate average of) $0.30 reduction in tax liability. Hence, these detestable, tax avoiding, dirty, rotten millionaires, who eliminated their obligation to pay the government by their charitable contributions alone, did so by giving more than three times to their chosen charities than what they would have otherwise had to send to our federal government.
I am unsure, in these cases, who might be more obtuse, you or them; but I am certain of whom I am more proud.
The 46%ers showed up to express indignation at the near-criminal slackers who are, as Deb fantasizes, receiving the services Deb pays for.
Of those 46%, almost half -- 44% this year -- are elderly retired living on fixed income. Grandma Warfare, Deb? Many have no taxable income, others get tax deductions designed to help the elderly. Those people paid for the services you used, you ungrateful Grantparent Warrior!
Another 30% take credits for children and the working poor. The actual 46% number is not people, but households. 46% of households pay no income tax...is the true statement.
With that in mind, Chris' meanderings are also exposed as the twaddle of unexamined Rwing propaganda and his own creative anal ysis. It's obvious Chris and Deb have been lured by and accept what they're fed by the Rwing hackocracy. At least Chris tries to dress it up with plausibility (for those who can't see through it).
They're bitching as if welfare queens and lazy slackers are robbing them. No, guys, it's grandma and grandpa and those lucky low wage working stiffs who are the parasitic subspecies of your delusional Darwinist contempt. Maybe if you put your heads together (I recommend ear-to-ear to take advantage of vacuum's powerful bonding) you can come up with a Final Solution.
It would be interesting to see what you could come up with if you knew how to use brains.
PS Chris...You accuse somebody of being obtuse. I well know your pot is blacker than anyone's kettle, so you should avoid the "obtuse" subject altogether.
Some people would choose to donate to the arts; certainly a worthy choice, but it doesn't help the poor meet the basic needs of their families. Charitable giving is wonderful thing, but there are a ton of charities for all different causes, and they all need donations. If the Republicans want our poor to rely on charity to meet their needs, then they need to find a way to make donating to charitable organizations that serve the American poor more palatable than donating funds for foreign orphans or artists.
A further comfort to those on the right is that even someone living in someone's garage and existing on $100 a week in unemployment will still pay many other taxes -- gas tax, sales tax, and any other similar taxes. If the unemployed person still has a house he will have to pay property tax. Someone receiving $5000 a year in unemployment might still have to pay $3000 or more in property taxes -- at least until the State takes his house. Even excluding income tax, someone unemployed can easily pay 10, 20, 30 percent of his income in taxes, perhaps even more.
Deborah writes: "Class warfare is only for those who have no solutions to the problems. It's called distraction."
"There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."
— Warren Buffett