Someone running a company certainly should have deductions. It's this type of thinking that got 10 of the states in the US to tax you on gross revenue rather than net profits. To this day, people defend it, even though I know of at least 5 restaurants that when out of business shortly after this went into effect.
"The government needs a certain amount of tax revenue to run;"
How about we get exact numbers and when we have paid enough in taxes, we don't have to pay anything more? The problem is that there is no accountability with our money. The amount the government needs in taxes will always be more than what we actually pay.
"either they don't get that revenue, or the average tax rate is at a certain level, after all the "flexibility" is taken into account."
I would gladly have the flexibility taken away if the amount of taxes we pay makes it so everyone is paying the lowest possible amount and we don't really need these deductions. Most governments have this reversed. If you don't take the time to find deductions, you will be paying more money than you need to to the government.
Under normal circumstances, if the other party didn't give this money back, it would be considered theft.
"What's more, the amount of tax revenue the government needs is lower without the deadweight loss of a good portion of the IRS's 106,000 employees, and the economy doesn't suffer the churn of seasonally employed accountants."
Am I supposed to feel sorry for employees whose sole purpose is to find ways to take more money from me? The IRS is a ruthless organization. If you make a mistake, the IRS charges you compound interest on top of penalty fees. If the IRS makes a mistake, you might get your money back.
Someone running a company certainly should have deductions. It's this type of thinking that got 10 of the states in the US to tax you on gross revenue rather than net profits. To this day, people defend it, even though I know of at least 5 restaurants that when out of business shortly after this went into effect.
"The government needs a certain amount of tax revenue to run;"
How about we get exact numbers and when we have paid enough in taxes, we don't have to pay anything more? The problem is that there is no accountability with our money. The amount the government needs in taxes will always be more than what we actually pay.
"either they don't get that revenue, or the average tax rate is at a certain level, after all the "flexibility" is taken into account."
I would gladly have the flexibility taken away if the amount of taxes we pay makes it so everyone is paying the lowest possible amount and we don't really need these deductions. Most governments have this reversed. If you don't take the time to find deductions, you will be paying more money than you need to to the government.
Under normal circumstances, if the other party didn't give this money back, it would be considered theft.
"What's more, the amount of tax revenue the government needs is lower without the deadweight loss of a good portion of the IRS's 106,000 employees, and the economy doesn't suffer the churn of seasonally employed accountants."
Am I supposed to feel sorry for employees whose sole purpose is to find ways to take more money from me? The IRS is a ruthless organization. If you make a mistake, the IRS charges you compound interest on top of penalty fees. If the IRS makes a mistake, you might get your money back.