A new movement afoot- The 53%ers!!

What kind of tax problems do you have to deal with in regard to poorer people? They have no tax liability do they?

 

Speaking in general terms, its filing issues. Tax returns are complicated, people screw up and take more deductions than are due, so they are screwed. These deductions are not taken with intent to defraud, just mistakenly. So, for example, a guy has a wife and kid and he is the only person who earns, so he is the only one who has to file. He says to himself "well, I am the head of my household, so I'll take that tax filing status." This allows him to take a bigger deduction, so he gets more money back. The IRS has such a backlog they don't really review his return for two years. Then they discover, "yeah, he made an oopsy. We are going to need that money back." Then the IRS charges punitive interest and penalties. The poor dad doesn't have the money to pay it back, so he comes to a guy like me to negotiate a payment plan with the IRS.

 

Even more reason to reform the tax code. If the system is so convoluted a regular person can't determine their tax liability something needs to be done.

 

haha this is ludicrous. people making minimum wage should have simply saved for a couple of years. why didn't they want to be millionaires???

 

"Saving" was never going to be the solution to corporate greed and corruption. I'm baffled as to how anyone can honestly believe that taxing the poor more than they already pay in taxes is any kind of a solution. What problem, exactly, does such an approach solve?
You'll notice that the 53 percenters barely made a ripple in the citizenry's consciousness. I think that may be because most citizens realize that income tax is only one tax. The poor pay a huge amount of their income already in taxes -- gas taxes, school taxes, property taxes, taxes to support police and fire departments, taxes to support senior citizen centers, taxes to expand sewer and water system, state income tax, sales taxes, not to mention taxes now masquerading as fees.
We cannot solve these problems unless we face them honestly. Saying 47percent of people don't pay taxes is not an honest assessment, IMHO.