Taxes - Write-offs, depreciation, and cost shifting

Tax day - April 15 2008 -  has come and gone in the USA - whoo hoo! But, as people filled out all the forms and tried to find the most "deductions" do they actually realize what they - and the Government - is really doing?

 

Anytime you can claim a deduction you are in essence shifting taxes to others. You are being subsidized. Sometimes to everyone else, sometimes it is only those who make above a certain $ amount (different tax bracket) where they pay a more percentage basis than you. Since they also MAKE more than you, and have to pay a higher percentage, they get a compounded increase in tax compared to you.

 

Also, with the current (very confusing) tax system, as you move up the income ladder some items that were previously deductible no longer are - you made too much money so the Government has decided you just have to "eat" those costs and not be subsidized by others - yes all write-off / deductions are really subsidies to get a person / firm to the point where there are NO subsidies for you. But the idea is that you benefited from those same write-off to GET to the point where you make so much money you no longer need it to get ahead.

 

That's the theory.

 

In reality some industries get subsidies even when they net a few hundred million dollars in real profits every month - the Government has decided to shift the taxes to individuals and not corporations in order to ensure that people are EMPLOYED. This is why there are tax incentives - low or no tax at for years - to get companies to stay / move. Even if the company pays NO taxes at all - the people living and working there now have money and THEY will pay taxes. Here in Oregon most companies pay the minimum tax of $10 - which was imposed in the 1930s and has never changed.

 

They - legally - pay this due to the combined income statements they can use (build a new plant in another state, write off the depreciation of 200 million - shield 200 million income from any tax.) This is abused, a company may build, write off the whole plant, sell it to another then they write off the whole plant AGAIN, sell it back, and it starts over. All legal, all perfect, and encouraged by the Government.  imagine what the effect would be if you could never write off more - EVER - than what an asset is worth? Would they then really tear it down a build a new one instead of just selling it which is the theory behind depreciation?

 

So all these write-off that people and businesses are allowed to do is to shift the start-up costs risk of failure to people who have already succeeded to ensure that those starting WILL succeed and not cause people to lose jobs. Because when a LOT of people are out of jobs that is the first criteria needed in order to overthrow the existing Government - lots of disgruntled and desperate people. The first rule of any Government is to STAY as the Government.

 

So as you file your few hundred forms needed for the IRS, realize that as an individual succeed you will lose many tax advantages you have went starting out that was subsidized by people who had started 5 to 15 years before you.  This is why Hillary and Bill Clinton paid $33 MILLION in taxes out of their $100 million or so of income - all those benefits are reserved for corporations NOT individuals since the tax system is Progressive - the more an individual earns the less the Government thinks they need to keep it - and will not let you keep it - so you can subsidize all the others. Thinking this way, Bill & Hillary Clinton likely helped over 3,300 people have much lower taxes in the past 10 years due to them.

 

Isn't that special!