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  • #16
    Originally posted by KrazyHorse
    The problem is that the AMT is not indexed to inflation. While it's 10% of the population now, it might be 50% in 10 years.
    I don't see it as a problem. Rather, a feature. I wouldn't mind seeing 50% (the 50% who pay the income taxes in our system) be under the AMT.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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    • #17
      Originally posted by KrazyHorse
      The problem is that the AMT is not indexed to inflation. While it's 10% of the population now, it might be 50% in 10 years.


      So obviously the fix is to index it to inflation. There are aspects to the AMT that I don't like, like getting taxed for unexercised options. So it should be fixed, but it absolutely should not be abolished. If it is, you need to get rid of a lot of deductions.

      Also, in what universe is the top ten percent of the country middle class? (Not directed at you, KH).
      Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
        As I understand it, the AMT removes most deductions for the upper middle class, which I think makes sense, so long as the applicable income tax rates are adjusted downward accordingly.


        So basically we should drop the marginal income tax rates for the top two tax brackets and just tax them via the AMT? How far should we drop the marginal rates?
        Yes. Don't know how much -- it would need to be run through revenue models.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

        Comment

        • #19
          Originally posted by KrazyHorse
          The problem is that the AMT is not indexed to inflation. While it's 10% of the population now, it might be 50% in 10 years.
          Income growth, not inflation, Kitty.
          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

          Comment

          • #20
            Originally posted by DanS


            I don't see it as a problem. Rather, a feature. I wouldn't mind seeing 50% (the 50% who pay the income taxes in our system) be under the AMT.
            Sorry, but I'm not in favour of what's an effectively flat tax system (even if it only applies to the "richest" 50%)
            12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
            Stadtluft Macht Frei
            Killing it is the new killing it
            Ultima Ratio Regum

            Comment

            • #21
              Originally posted by DanS


              Income growth, not inflation, Kitty.
              ?

              It's neither indexed to income growth nor inflation.

              Real income growth accounts for far less of annual nominal increases in per capita income than does inflation.
              12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
              Stadtluft Macht Frei
              Killing it is the new killing it
              Ultima Ratio Regum

              Comment

              • #22
                The Democrats could actually make a lot of political capital to help them prove they're better at governing by pushing through a Tax Simplification plan. Get ride of most of the deductions and special give aways which the Republicans wrote into law for their donors. Tax simplification, if it was revenue neutral, would not bust the budget plus it would end up saving people time spent filing their yearly taxes.

                Closing loopholes and giving people more spare time.
                Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                Comment

                • #23
                  Inflation hovers in the 2-3% range. Real per capita income growth is somewhere between 0 and 1%
                  12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                  Stadtluft Macht Frei
                  Killing it is the new killing it
                  Ultima Ratio Regum

                  Comment

                  • #24
                    I don't think it's in the gov't's portfolio to advantage one kind of spending or investment over another. Some of the problems that we have in today's economy (low savings, etc.) are in part caused by these distortions.
                    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                    Comment

                    • #25
                      Originally posted by DanS
                      Kitty
                      Only GP gets to call me Kitty.
                      12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                      Stadtluft Macht Frei
                      Killing it is the new killing it
                      Ultima Ratio Regum

                      Comment

                      • #26
                        Originally posted by KrazyHorse
                        Inflation hovers in the 2-3% range. Real per capita income growth is somewhere between 0 and 1%
                        Lately, the real income growth for this upper middle class group has been larger than 1%.

                        Point is, you have to mark these things to nominal income growth, not inflation.
                        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                        Comment

                        • #27
                          Originally posted by KrazyHorse
                          Only GP gets to call me Kitty.
                          I only call you Kitty when you're wrong.
                          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                          Comment

                          • #28
                            Originally posted by Oerdin
                            I doubt you will once you learn about the costs.
                            whoosh

                            Comment

                            • #29
                              Originally posted by DanS
                              Point is, you have to mark these things to nominal income growth, not inflation.
                              Why?
                              12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                              Stadtluft Macht Frei
                              Killing it is the new killing it
                              Ultima Ratio Regum

                              Comment

                              • #30
                                Because otherwise the tax applies to an ever-increasing proportion of people.

                                Comment

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