Brenda wrote: > > I think you should take a look at the methodology as it may address these issues to > an extent you might find useful.
I did look at the methodology and still say that they're talking about the group, and what individuals do may vary from those general numbers. > Being done more by whom and where did you read it? It seems like people at all > income levels find ways to avoid reporting income. It's just the amounts that they > hide (and the way that they hide it) may be different. By people in businesses, especially private practices, that bring in a lot of cash. I first read of it in a NYTimes article, which mentioned that the scheme is especially appealing to lawyers and doctors. I did not get the impression that ONLY lawyers and doctors were involved. After that I heard about it elsewhere, although I can't recall exactly where since I wasn't shocked anymore by the idea. There is also some talk about having Committee hearings about it in Congress because the practice is becoming so widespread (and I probably read that in the NYTimes also). At this point, there's nothing illegal about it, just as there was nothing illegal about any of the other things I mentioned. Whether it's ethical is another question. And, yes, people at all income levels try to avoid reporting income. However, when taxes from a worker's paycheck are sent directly to the government, and that work is the only money coming in for that person (which is often the case for middle-class workers), it's harder to hide any income. The wealthy have much more flexibility, and perhaps lower-income earners do, too, if they deal mostly with cash. > Here's a question - are all of these things attributable to law that was enacted by a > Republican administration or a majority Republican Congress? I'd imagine it would > take someone who knows the tax code and it's evolution to answer that, but I have a > suspicion the answer wouldn't be so simple. No, it's not that simple. Did I say those tax breaks were all Republican initiatives? I don't think so. All I have said with any certainty is that the death tax is not what it's being touted as in order to get votes. > ... anyone, no matter how much money > they have, can buy tax-free bonds, setup a trust, give to charity and invest in >failing > businesses. Yes, although it's highly unlikely that anyone living paycheck to paycheck will be taking advantage of those. It's also unlikely they will be taking advantage of the repeal of the death tax, no matter what the Republicans are saying. > If you don't mind my asking - what do you base this belief on? I'm not asking that > you know the exact percentage, but your original statement was a fairly broad claim: > that it is a "much smaller percentage." Which makes me wonder - is this just your > gut or did you somewhere along the way read something that had a verifiable basis > for the claim? And if you won't believe the CBO, what will you believe? I believe that the CBO bases their analyses on what people let them know, and as far as that goes, they're accurate. Just the two schemes I know of that the very wealthy can take advantage of is enough to give me the impression that the number the CBO comes up with is probably not the whole story. Since both those schemes were a surprise to me, there are probably many other schemes for hiding money that I can't even begin to imagine. So, it's a gut thing, and one I wouldn't even be arguing about if the death tax and the way it's being used in campaigns had not come up. I never said that only Republicans come up with tax-saving schemes or that only Republicans can and do take advantage of them. > BTW - I'm not interested in any bashing of either side; I just don't think that it's >so > easy to say that one side is responsible when both sides have actively participated >in > creating the system with which we live. I don't believe I've said that the Republicans are solely responsible for the current tax system, although it's apparently the way my posts have across to you, and perhaps my pro-Democratic bias is showing itself more clearly than I realize. At this point, my head is spinning about all this stuff. Since you keep misconstruing (from my point of view) what I originally said, your pro-Republican bias seems pretty healthy, too. I'm not complaining about that and think it's good always to try to see another view. Debra Shea
