USA is #1!

[OzzyKP]

Who is considered middle class or wealthy is far different in Fairfax County vs. the rest of the country. But putting that debate aside, whether it is the wealthy or the middle class who benefit from these loop holes, both classes are less in need of benefits then the poor.

[Hauldren Collider]

Tax deductions for charitable donations seem fine so long as only organizations that do things that would otherwise be done by the government are eligible.

There's also the fact that charitable donations actually often don't really help the poor. Donating to art museums is a charitable donation. Donating to Carnegie Mellon is a charitable donation. That doesn't do a ****ing thing to help the poor. Eliminating the charitable deductions loophole is a really really good idea. Besides, once we start playing the game of which loopholes to keep and which to throw out, we're doomed to end up exactly where we started--a mess of a tax code that looks like swiss cheese because of a bunch of well-intentioned idiots who think like Ozzy.

[giblets]

There's also the fact that charitable donations actually often don't really help the poor. Donating to art museums is a charitable donation. Donating to Carnegie Mellon is a charitable donation. That doesn't do a ****ing thing to help the poor. Eliminating the charitable deductions loophole is a really really good idea. Besides, once we start playing the game of which loopholes to keep and which to throw out, we're doomed to end up exactly where we started--a mess of a tax code that looks like swiss cheese because of a bunch of well-intentioned idiots who think like Ozzy.

"Helping the poor" is not the sole qualification for a government subsidy. And a donation to a homeless shelter or a food bank or whatnot should definitely be tax deductible.

[OzzyKP]

Oh boy, I've been called an idiot. Name calling.

To gribbler's point, all those things you pointed to are things that the government provides. Much more so in other countries without our charitable sector.

[Dinner]

And 35 % for Belgium is a joke. There are loopholes the size of the moon in our legislation.

Yeah, the same here. Still, even though the loopholes, deductions, tax credits, and subsidies exist it still makes for an extremely complicated tax code which seemingly does nothing but complicate things and enrich lobbyists who bribe Congressmen and accountants who come up with "proprietary tax strategies".

There is no easy cure though because twice in my life the US has had big pushes to simplify the tax code, to cut rates and eliminate all those loopholes, but the problem is with in a year or two all the loopholes are back because the Congressmen want lobbyist money and the lobbyists want their loopholes.

[kittenOFchaos]

Having a high rate is surely killing Japan and Germany.

A good point well made, but far too subtle for this crowd - hell, Plato is crying.

[Tupac Shakur]

Having a low rate sure is working well for Ireland.

Ireland transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in Western Europe to one of the wealthiest. The financial crisis, as bad it has been for Ireland, hasn't changed that.

[Dinner]

If the country is bankrupt with the highest debt per person in the world it's hardly rich.

[giblets]

Ireland isn't remotely "bankrupt".

[Tupac Shakur]

If the country is bankrupt with the highest debt per person in the world it's hardly rich.

I'm going to play along and follow you down the retarded path of using external debt per capita as the determinant of a country's "richness" rather than the usual GDP per capita. In that case, Ireland should just default on its debt, **** over the English banks holding it, and let the hated Brits slide into the number one spot as the world's "poorest" country.

[Dinner]

Ireland isn't remotely "bankrupt".

They had to get bailed out to avoid default on the national debt. Of course, part of that was due to the government's decision to nationalize most of the country's large banks rather then let them go under but the fact remains they have big financial problems and the highest debt per person in the world with the economy far from what it was GDP wise just a few years ago. The recession should clear away the malinvestments but the debt is going to be crushing for such a small country especially since they're pretty much a mature economy now so they're not going to be returning to the boom time economy and thus growing their way out will be very hard to do.

[Dinner]

I'm going to play along and follow you down the retarded path of using external debt per capita as the determinant of a country's "richness" rather than the usual GDP per capita. In that case, Ireland should just default on its debt, **** over the English banks holding it, and let the hated Brits slide into the number one spot as the world's "poorest" country.

Last I heard the Germans were actually the most exposed not the Brits.

[Tupac Shakur]

I'm not surprised that you believe something incorrect.

[Dinner]

If you count just bank debt then the UK owns Sterling 139bn while Germany owns Sterling 129bn but that doesn't count Irish government debt holdings which the UK holds very little of and Germany holds a good amount of. That means the second the Irish government nationalized the banks Irish national debt came into question and, yes, over all Germany had the biggest risk when you include both private and public debt exposure.

http://www.kathylien.com/site/forex-blog/ireland-which-country-has-the-greatest-exposure

[Provost Harrison]

I thought the country most indebted to the UK at the moment was actually the US. In fact more than we are indebted to the US. Which is a nice reversal of fortune. But we are quite heavily exposed to Irish debt. Just be grateful you are not France though, they seem to have all of their money to the worst risks out there...Greece, Portugal, Italy. I bet they're crapping themselves over a default!