Go Back   Two Wheel Fix > General > News Desk

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-20-2011, 11:32 AM   #221
shmike
Follower
 
shmike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,549
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO View Post
Not exactly. On the surface, a simple straight percentage would seem the most reasonable. But that still leaves the CEO driving an Aston Martin from his 20 room mansion who only pays a percentage of $1 a year, since his compensation is in company stock options or his bank account is in the Cayman Islands, or some other such nonsense. And it still leaves the single woman working for $10 an hour for as many hours as she can get, then mowing lawns and pet sitting in her spare time, because she's taking care of her disabled parents who have no means of supporting themselves. I really wouldn't mind seeing her pay no taxes, or a lower percentage than the rest of us.

So my answer to Ed's question is: don't ask for a simple answer to a complicated problem.

Now, here's the reality:

That woman is paying very little if any taxes.

She is probably not filing taxes on her lawn mowing and pet sitting jobs, so she is just as much of a tax cheat as your CEO.

The CEO may only make $1 a year in salary but those stock options aren't free. Depending on what type of options they are, they may be taxed as income or they may be taxed later as capital gains.

Of course you may never be taxed on your options if they expire worthless.

Cayman account or not, if your CEO is being paid through a legitimate source, he is being taxed. If he/she is actually trying to export money from the US with no taxes being paid, I assure you that the IRS would be interested to hear about it.

Now, it may seem unfair that Susie is paying 15% on her $30k AGI while Mr. CEO is paying 15% on his $10 million, but please explain to me how his $1,500,000 is less than her $4500...)
__________________
Racing For Smiles
shmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 11:33 AM   #222
Tmall
Aspiring Rapper
 
Tmall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Halifax, NS
Moto: '12 CB1000R
Posts: 3,569
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO View Post
To answer this question, even though you clearly haven't put nearly enough hard work or determination into deserving an answer, let's look at the budget of just the DoD for this year (not including the wars).

$680 billion. In order for the approximately 313 million people in the US to pay this $680 billion tab, we would all have to contribute $2,172. Now, let's go get that money from a friend of mine,* who has been a roughneck most of his adult life, and started working when he was 15. He has paid into social security, paid his taxes, and worked in rain, sleet, snow, and blistering heat for sometimes 60 hours or more a week. Now he has epilepsy, which had been getting worse over a period of 10 years during which he was still roughnecking. He is finally to a point where his epilepsy is a safety hazard. The state of New Mexico has revoked his driver's license, but refused to pay him social security disability (which, remember, he has paid into all his working life, at this point a little over 15 years). He is forbidden from working as a roughneck by doctors' orders. He's providing for his family of five through the kindness of his extended family and his church.

You want to ask him for that $2,172?

For the thousands like him, and those who are even worse off, who picks up the slack? And that's just for the DoD's bills, not including the wars.



*Actual case file, I can introduce him to you if you'd like.
RacerX Answer

" He should have planned ahead and cured epilepsy! Look at my new gadget! Wheeee!!!!"


/RacerX Answer
Tmall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 11:43 AM   #223
fatbuckRTO
This is not the sig line.
 
fatbuckRTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Moto: Be prepared. What? Oh, *moto*...
Posts: 1,279
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by shmike View Post
Now, it may seem unfair that Susie is paying 15% on her $30k AGI while Mr. CEO is paying 15% on his $10 million, but please explain to me how his $1,500,000 is less than her $4500...)
When it comes down to "choose between paying your taxes, eating, or paying your dad's medical bill," I'd say that $4500 is quite a bit more than $1.5 million.

Susie is a real case file too, by the way. And if she's not paying taxes on her lawn mowing job, I can't seem to bring myself to care. Even with the "extra income," she would be getting a full tax refund. Assuming it's just a refund, I'm ok with that.
__________________
This was no time for half measures. He was a captain, godsdammit. An officer.
Things like this didn't present a problem for an officer. Officers had a tried and
tested way of solving problems like this. It was called a sergeant.

-Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
fatbuckRTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 11:57 AM   #224
shmike
Follower
 
shmike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,549
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO View Post
When it comes down to "choose between paying your taxes, eating, or paying your dad's medical bill," I'd say that $4500 is quite a bit more than $1.5 million.

Susie is a real case file too, by the way. And if she's not paying taxes on her lawn mowing job, I can't seem to bring myself to care. Even with the "extra income," she would be getting a full tax refund. Assuming it's just a refund, I'm ok with that.

So, she is getting a full refund (a more likely scenario than my worst case)?

She paid no income taxes, so...

Is she still paying more than the CEO's $1.5 mil because she has a tough time making ends meet?
__________________
Racing For Smiles
shmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:08 PM   #225
fatbuckRTO
This is not the sig line.
 
fatbuckRTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Moto: Be prepared. What? Oh, *moto*...
Posts: 1,279
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by shmike View Post
So, she is getting a full refund (a more likely scenario than my worst case)?

She paid no income taxes, so...

Is she still paying more than the CEO's $1.5 mil because she has a tough time making ends meet?
Nope. And I'm fine with that. Were I a $10 million a year CEO, I would still be fine with that. When her paychecks start picking up, so can her taxes.

That said, just because the CEO is paying more doesn't mean that he "can't afford it as easily" as Susie. Susie can't "afford" shit. The CEO could still easily "afford" millions more. He just might have to downgrade to a Mercedes.

The above is not an attempt to answer the question of whether the CEO should pay more just because I would. But if he doesn't, where is the money going to come from? It ain't coming from Susie, or the epileptic ex-roughneck, no matter how hard you squeeze them.
__________________
This was no time for half measures. He was a captain, godsdammit. An officer.
Things like this didn't present a problem for an officer. Officers had a tried and
tested way of solving problems like this. It was called a sergeant.

-Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
fatbuckRTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:13 PM   #226
shmike
Follower
 
shmike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,549
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO View Post
Nope. And I'm fine with that. Were I a $10 million a year CEO, I would still be fine with that. When her paychecks start picking up, so can her taxes.

That said, just because the CEO is paying more doesn't mean that he "can't afford it as easily" as Susie. Susie can't "afford" shit. The CEO could still easily "afford" millions more. He just might have to downgrade to a Mercedes.

The above is not an attempt to answer the question of whether the CEO should pay more just because I would. But if he doesn't, where is the money going to come from? It ain't coming from Susie, or the epileptic ex-roughneck, no matter how hard you squeeze them.
He's not a $10 million a year CEO, he's a $1 a year CEO, remember?
__________________
Racing For Smiles
shmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:14 PM   #227
fatbuckRTO
This is not the sig line.
 
fatbuckRTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Moto: Be prepared. What? Oh, *moto*...
Posts: 1,279
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by shmike View Post
He's not a $10 million a year CEO, he's a $1 a year CEO, remember?
Then he'd better get to mowing...
__________________
This was no time for half measures. He was a captain, godsdammit. An officer.
Things like this didn't present a problem for an officer. Officers had a tried and
tested way of solving problems like this. It was called a sergeant.

-Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
fatbuckRTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:23 PM   #228
Papa_Complex
Nomadic Tribesman
 
Papa_Complex's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Brampton, Canada
Moto: '09 ER-6n
Posts: 11,150
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by shmike View Post
He's not a $10 million a year CEO, he's a $1 a year CEO, remember?
He's a $1M/yr CEO with a declared income of $250K
__________________
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge, "Dorkness Rising"

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/
Papa_Complex is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:31 PM   #229
RACER X
AMA Supersport
 
RACER X's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Richmond, Tx
Moto: '10 Tuono Factory
Posts: 4,569
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa_Complex View Post
He's a $1M/yr CEO with a declared income of $250K
and at 25% he's still paying $62.5k in taxes vs ? $0 for some people.........
__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
2014 GROM! 181cc of FURY
2010 Aprilia Tuono Factory - SOLD
2009 SFV Gladius - SOLD
2008 Hayabusa - SOLD.
RACER X is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2011, 12:38 PM   #230
fatbuckRTO
This is not the sig line.
 
fatbuckRTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Moto: Be prepared. What? Oh, *moto*...
Posts: 1,279
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by RACER X View Post
and at 25% he's still paying $62.5k in taxes vs ? $0 for some people.........
Great! Find 10.8 million more like him and we'll have the DoD's expenses covered. Not including the wars.

Now, about those roads...
__________________
This was no time for half measures. He was a captain, godsdammit. An officer.
Things like this didn't present a problem for an officer. Officers had a tried and
tested way of solving problems like this. It was called a sergeant.

-Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

Last edited by fatbuckRTO; 09-20-2011 at 12:41 PM.. Reason: snarkiness
fatbuckRTO is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:58 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.