Saturday, April 18, 2009

Tax Trouble on the Horizon

So what are the tax problems looming on the horizon?

  • 43% of US households currently do not pay any federal income tax. That means 43% of Americans think that government services are free.
  • Taxes will increase on everyone since the wealthy alone cannot pay off an $11 trillion deficit.
  • There’s discussion of adding a European-style Value Added Tax (VAT) on top of the income tax.
  • Obama is pushing for his cap and trade energy plan: a $600 billion expense.
  • Obama increased taxes on the poorest in the US by increasing taxes on cigarettes.
  • Americans spend 8 billion hours per year filling out tax forms. That’s equivalent to 4 million full time people working just to fill out the forms.
  • $200b per year cost to fill out the forms.
  • 500 different changes in the tax code every year.
  • 70,000 pages of tax laws (up from 40,000 pages just 12 years ago).

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