>

We should abolish the federal income tax
No they didn’t.  These alarm bells have been ringing for a decade, with many (actual) billionaires saying “we don’t even think this is fair.” >

There's a reason why certain people in Congress are whining about more IRS agents being hired. Whether they'll actually go after the rich and save the country money, I really don't know. >

As a small business owner, I am praying that the IRS gets more employees (exceedingly few of them are "agents.")
It is, simply, impossible to get anything done with the IRS. They sent me an erroneous bill for a penalty for failing to file a tax return. Not a big deal: paperwork mistakes happen.
But when you try to call them, you literally cannot speak to someone. You get a recording that basically says, "Sorry, send us a letter" and then it hangs up on you.
The real issue with this is that when you send a letter, nothing happens. MEANWHILE, penalties and interest continue to accrue -- penalties and interest that you don't owe.  So every time you send a letter, you have to also protest the latest round of penalties and fees.
But...because of the time lag, things never catch up. So it's this never-ending cycle of sending letters and appeals, which are a complete waste of time and could have been solved with a 5-minute phone call and a fax machine. >

I had to hire an accountant to talk to the IRS. There must be a backdoor number he used because he got in quick and resolved the issue. However as you said this is total BS. Meanwhile I cant seem to find any magical tax cheats or any help at all with any sort of tax relief even though I have employees. I think I need to learn how to make shell companies. >

THIS. There was a story covered in early 2022 I believe that talks about companies that charge you to get in line (better position) on hold with the IRS. They simply robo call the IRS number millions of times to gridlock the whole system and sell our accountants a better spot in line.
Talk about criminal AND reprehensible. And how the fuck the government hasn't shut that shit down is another level of wtf. >

Do you not see this as a problem? It creates a system where people can't solve issues by themselves. They need to hire a professional to do something they could have done themselves. Now, I'm not saying everyone understands the tax code, and of course there is a reason for tax professionals to exist. But people should have the tools to solve this themselves if they have the time and knowledge. >

They do what? Because you just said the reason we can't get through to the IRS is because they have been defunded. Which you also seem to believe is a problem, so it seems we're on a similar page in that regard? I honestly don't get all the questions in the first paragraph. I haven't dealt too much with the IRS myself, and I don't know how to contact the departments you mentioned. Is it possible for individuals? I was reading comments and replying based on the information I was given, and that information was that tax professionals can contact the IRS via a number regular citizens don't have, and that seems unfair to me for people trying to do taxes themselves. Personally, I don't know enough to do it all myself, and would hire a professional or use a tax service, but I know people in this thread have tried and failed to contact the IRS themselves, and that's a failure of the system in my opinion. >

Conservatives only have a bag of tricks with 5 items. 
1. Tax cuts and adjustments to favor the rich and corporations.
2. Decrease regulations on business and corporations.
3. Stack federal courts with partisan judges.
4. Make abortion illegal.
5. Defend Gun rights.
The last two are just red herrings to keep their voters distracted and angry so that the money will flow to get them reelected.  
Conservatives are pretty simple minded.  But they are effective in getting what they want because so many are easily fooled. >

Uhh.... I don't think after the year we've had it's fair to call number four a red herring. I mean, I know they did it accidentally, but it did happen. >

I agree about #4, but as you say it was by accident and now they are the proverbial "dog that caught the car" they don't know what to do. >

Also correct.  I just don't want us to fall into the trap of thinking that these things are not dangerous just because they're lying about them >

Bring back the 1950s tax rates. >

That would not solve the problem at all. All that would do is impose a greater tax burden on high income professionals, who are already paying an enormous amount of taxes. What you need to do is find a way to tax the accumulated wealth of the billionaire class, who can minimize their taxable income in a given year to literally zero, and who have amassed an unprecedented amount of wealth that goes completely untaxed. Increasing the top marginal rate doesn’t solve that. All it does is point a jealous finger at high-income, but not necessarily “wealthy,” hard-working professionals. That might make you feel good, but it doesn’t come close to solving the problem. >

Every time this topic comes up, it’s so clear that way too many people think that the wealthy literally get a paystub with their insane capital gains on them along with a withheld amount like the rest of us. 
I’ve personally stopped using the term “upper middle class” because I strongly believe if you get your primary money with a paystub and amount withheld, you’re way more similar than not. >

Absolutely true. People are seriously mistaken if they think the doctor down the street who makes $800,000 a year is not paying taxes, after they read a report that Elon Musk or Bezos paid no taxes last year. Those two filers are not at all the same, and hitting up the doctor for a greater percent of his income in taxes will do nothing to make the billionaire class pay a single cent of taxes. The problems with the tax code are deep and structural, and increasing top marginal rates won’t fix those problems. You could make the top marginal rate start at $100,000 a year and capture 100% of income earned above that, and billionaires could happily continue to pay absolutely nothing. >


People are seriously missing the big picture if they think the doctor down the street who makes $800,000 a year is not paying taxes, after they read a report that Elon Musk or Bezos paid no taxes last year.

Part of the issue is so many people think the ultra-wealthy are just like their uncle that’s an engineer who clears $200k. I thought that until I lived in Boston and ran into legit old money families way more often that I thought I ever would. I probably know personally a double digit number of people who earn $30-$50k a year post-tax from a “small trust,” which isn’t much in scale but is still a lot of money for just existing. And consider those families’ trusts are probably paying that much to 30+ descendants. 

You could make the top marginal rate start at $100,000 a year and capture 100% of income earned above that

I’ve seen that idea presented seriously and upvoted here way too many times… >

Oh yeah, in my experience people who think we solve this problem by having their neighbor, who is a lawyer or engineer, pay an even higher percent of his income in taxes are really motivated by some mix of jealousy and ignorance. What you said about how the ultra wealthy live and get paid is spot on. There are very many people walking around with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in trusts, from which they draw maybe $100,000 a year. Those are the folks with the real money and power in our society, and the folks who get away with murder under our tax code - not the white collar professional whose house would go in foreclosure within six months of getting laid off. >

Also- not to say our marginal tax thresholds/percentages are sacred either. Let’s keep those current too! 
But not addressing where wealth really gets away with murder is doing the population a real disservice. >

That is totally a debate worth having, but we should always be sure to have it with the right understandings of the impact raising rates would have. Raising the top marginal rate won’t solve often-lamented problems like “Warren Buffett pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary” or “Bezos paid nothing in taxes last year,” and those are the type of perverse outcomes that really lead to massive accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few. >

Companies are not human beings and should not be treated more favorably than the people who support them by buying their goods and services. They should bare the brunt of the tax burden. >

Corporations are people my friend! - "Moderate" GOP shithead Romney >


“Under the current system, American workers pay virtually all their tax bills while many top earners avoid paying billions in the taxes they owe by exploiting the system.”
“This is backwards. Lawmakers should equalize these rates so that someone who wakes up at 6 a.m. and trudges to work in the rain doesn’t pay a higher rate than someone who sits in their inherited mansion watching the stock portfolio they were given grow.”
“With over 400 flow-thru returns reported on the form 1040, it is not possible to obtain the resources available to examine all potential issues,” an internal IRS memo stated, according to the report.
Yellen stressed again that “these investments will not result in households earning $400,000 per year or less or small businesses seeing an increase in the chances that they are audited relative to historical levels.”

All the people worried about the IRS coming after their lucky charms probably don’t even have 10 shell companies going through their tax returns. >

I got audited for 87 dollars this year from a discrepancy 3 years ago. Fuck that. >

And now the IRS has the resources they need to do that even more. >

I was told they wouldn’t go after people earning below 400,000/year. No idea if this is related or not to that. >

"Institution that preys on poor people promises not to prey on poor people if they're given more money"...We'll see, I suppose, but I am deeply sceptical. >

Yeah no idea if this was related to the recent Biden initiative or not since it was from a couple years ago. >

You mean to tell me the tax codes favor the rich? The ones that donate to the politicians campaigns?  I’m just shocked, truly shocked. >

The tax code favors those with vast amounts of accumulated wealth. Those people often have negligible taxable income, as Trump proved. The so-called “working rich” in this country, like doctors and lawyers who work their asses off to earn maybe around $500,000 - $2 million a year, pay all the taxes. Democrats have somehow become convinced that those people are the problem and should be paying more taxes, while they’re already taxed to an extreme degree that completely outweighs the benefits they receive from the government. >

I concur >

Yeah, it always drives me crazy when people take their eyes off the prize and act like the high-income professional down the street is some type of mini Jeff Bezos. Those two are not in the same league or even playing the same game. Billionaires in this country can get away with paying literally nothing in taxes in a given year. They hold unimaginably large reservoirs of wealth, and the government has basically no way to tax it. Meanwhile, high-income professionals are paying a huge percent of their hard-earned income in taxes every year, and a lot of the rhetoric out there suggests they should be paying even more, and that we should just increase the top marginal rate, which would do absolutely nothing to solve the real problem. >

To be honest, there was nothing unexpected in those tax returns. We all knew it would be a bunch of losses and shady charitable donations. We all know that a lot of money is stored in offshore tax havens in the name of entities that don't need to be listed on his tax returns. We also all know that nothings gonna change, but we just keep hoping. >

If they keep their international income in international banks then it isn't the US's place to tax it.
British money gets taxed in Britain. German money gets taxed in Germany. Until it makes it's way to the US it shouldn't be getting taxed. It can sit in the Virgin Island for a thousand years if they don't want to spend it anywhere. >

It still needs to be listed in US tax returns if in the individual name or any pass through entity >

I'm an American living and working in the UK, where I have settled. I work and earn all my money in the UK, but still have to declare it on US tax returns. I also can't invest in British ETFs without a 50% capital gains levy. >

I see lots of people advocating for a flat tax like that’s somehow going to be “fair” for the working class and the super wealthy.
We had a progressive tax rate in this country before and it worked like gangbusters. We built highways, public schools, mass transit…but sure, let’s go with something that hasn’t worked before. >

these alarms have been raised by many for years it's a shame people are just now hearing about them. >

It’s a feature not a bug. >

Who ever said it was fair?  I always thought it was just what the billionaires and their paid shills could get away with without torches and pitchforks coming out.  It's just a bunch of partisan bullshit cobbled together by lobbyists in Washington. 
The Democrats had a chance to reverse it slightly in 2020, but then with DINO's Manchin and Sinema being paid off, that became impossible.  It's just a codified war by the rich against the poor. >

My takeaway is this:     
-Do you really think Trump is the only rich asshole not paying any taxes, or just the one we know about most publicly? This is the NORM for the wealthy!     
-While the IRS admits it's failures without explanation, NOT ONE PERSON, SPECIFICALLY YHE IRS DIRECTOR, HAS BEEN FIRED FOR FAILURE TO PERFORM LEGALLY REQUIRED DUTIES. >

Oh now it raises alarms? Lmao. Fucking stupid. I think a lot of people have been aware how flawed the system is. >

Everyone but the top 1% have been raising tax fairness for 40 years, this isn’t new. >

Was there any doubt? >


I don't understand. A billionaire has to pay, like, sometimes almost $100,000 in taxes (okay, most times it's $0 but not always!). That's a lot of money. And if they get to keep more money, then they can use it to hire more people, which makes everyone richer!! Also, let me create the term "effective taxrate" to explain why billionaires pay more money than regular people do!

....nobody actually believes this stuff anymore, even the UK fired its PM in record time over this nonsense. It's literally letting people loot the treasury. >

A lot of people are up in arms about Trump not paying much in taxes but a big part of it is simply the tax code.
You could inherit $10 million from a rich uncle and not pay any tax. You could then invest it and see it grow to $50 million and still not be taxed. You could then take a $1 million loan against your $50 million, still not be taxed, and buy yourself a fleet of luxury vehicles, etc.
You would be taxed if you took money as income such as in interest or dividends (which Trump was actually taxed on), or if you sold some of the investment.
If you inherited assets like office buildings, you could inherit them without tax, sell them at a tax loss but still get cash from them, and use that tax loss to offset years of future income. I strongly suspect this is what Trump has done. He's a terrible business person and can just let his properties lose value and sell them at losses and have plenty of other properties and assets to have money. >

Yeah? Nah. That shitty bell has been clanging loudly for a long time. While we can credit Trump with saying/doing/exposing a lot of terrible things, this ain’t one of them. >

Poor person checking in: this doesn't raise alarms, it just confirms everything most people already knew about the fairness of the US tax code. >

What fairness? Poor people are slaves while rich pay nothing >

Poor people are not slaves in the United States. When you use that term like that it kinda takes away from actual slavery going on all throughout the world. >

There are people I'd consider slaves. People working for 14-16 hours and not having a penny at the end of the month? That's slavery, soon the employers will pay bills for them and they're forever stuck paying them off. Making them actual undisputable slaves >

Ive bad to work 105+ hr weeks and barely had shit at the end of the month. There are lots of people in this country that have to do the same so please, dont act ignorant just because you have never experienced it before. >

Oh I squandered money plenty and lived paycheck to paycheck.  In fact the reason I was broke was because of poor money management and lack of education. I think the lack of education is a bigger factor. People’s expenses are to high and their not honest about their actual needs vs wants. >

So you goofed yourself but are somehow convinced that others who do everything right and still can’t make ends meet don’t exist? >

Who thinks there is any amount of fairness in taxes??? Taxes are used to keep the working class poor so that the rich can keep power!!! >

The working class doesn't pay federal income taxes as a whole.  
In most states essentials aren't subject to sales tax, and state/local income taxes are reasonably low.
Their FICA taxes earn credits they can use for a pension and medical care in old age, so they directly benefit from those.
Fuel taxes don't take in enough to cover road maintenance, so they have to be subsidized from general revenues.
What part of this is "keeping the working class poor"? >

Taxes are definitely used to fund the government. When CBO says bill X will cost Y trillion with respect to a proposed tax cut, they mean receipts over 10 years will fall by that amount, most probably. Somebody is paying those taxes. I think the somebodies are wealthy people who are not wealthy enough to be able to avoid the tax. >

The somebody who pays those taxes isn't the working class in the US so I don't know what your point is. >

Tax rates matter even though wealthy people pay nothing. >

The wealthy pay the vast majority of the taxes in the US, and the working class as a whole have a negative federal income tax rate. >

Multi-billion dollar businesses, Billionaires, Trillion dollar businesses paying little to no taxes.. and even getting a FRACKING RETURN.... and you think the alarm bells are just ringing? No...no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no. 
They have been ringing for MANY Decades. The ultra Rich and Republicans have been defending them tooth and nail. >

To be honest I do not know much about taxes except for surface level things. All I know is that it’s messed up that I make about $4000 a month and about $900 of it goes to taxes. But billionaires don’t pay shit. >

When the headline states “raise alarms about fairness” is the headline referring to alarming the rich who benefit, the legislative body that designed it, or the rest of us that are exploited by it?     
The word “alarm” seems very close to the word “surprise”. Which of the three groups I described in the last sentence are surprised? >

Where's the guy that spent all day yesterday on multiple subreddits swearing he's a CPA and that there's nothing bad in Trumps taxes? I'm a nurse for Christ's sake and even I can read his taxes and see the bullshit! >

People are just now finding this out???
I think most of us have known about this for a LONG time... Not one politician even wants to look at the taxes in this country. >

Whaaaaaaat?!?!?? You mean to tell me that the US tax code has been bent to take as much as possible from the middle and lower class but essentially leave the upper class untouched?!?!???!? Who could have possibly known about this travesty. 
Tax the rich or set them all on fire idc but this shit needs to be fixed. >

It's fucking bull shit that he paid a 4% tax rate on an income of $24m. That same year working as a nurse I paid nearly 20%.
Give me his tax rate or give him mine. Fuck this fucking country! >

THIS is what raised the alarms!?!?!? 🤦🏻‍♂️ >

The alarm is broken, and has been for years. >

Raising alarm bells? 
Even before the Trump tax cut the tax code was unfair; the tax cuts just made it more unfair
For decades now, the richer you are, the more means you have available to reduce your taxes
The Trump tax cuts made it obviously unfair by lowering the corporate tax rate below what most middle-income Americans pay and by adding more deductions for corporations and the rich while getting rid of a lot for middle to low income Americans >

This could be bigger than congress trading stocks!  lol >

Lmao o yeah we had no idea it’s been unfair before >

Oh yeah I needed trumps taxes to be alarmed about our tax code for sure. Everything was perfectly fine before that >

Also raises alarms about his money-laundering, bribery from foreign governments, and his overt, mobbed-up criminality. 
Flush this turd. >

THIS is what raises the alarms?!?! >

Can’t wait for nothing to happen. Jan 6th had the right energy just wrong direction. Needta be ripping these rich people from their homes and eating them, it’s the only solution. They don’t care because they have nothing to fear, change won’t come for them. >

Wait are you saying that the Legal and Tax systems in the US only really exist to control poor people and aren’t equally applied to the affluent??? This is news to me!! >

How much of the country actually is suddenly alarmed about this, vs how many are just like "yeah, this matches my expectations"? >

There has never been fairness in the tax code. haha these returns of trump's did nothing but remind us of the discrepancies. Nobody should be surprised of this. The rich write the rules and then make sure they'll give themselves enough loop holes to fall through while giving the regular folks a net that is designed to catch every penny it can. I don't see any change in this anytime soon. >

As well they should...everyone knows he's a cheat. How does his company get criminally conviced of fraud and he doesn't? Something ain't raight... >

Last time I looked the tax code was 50k+ pages long. Probably longer now. They need to blow everything out and make it a one-page tax code. Everyone pays a percentage based on income. No freebies or deductions. Same for business. The more you make the more you pay. Seems fair to me!!! >

The system is broken.  Most of the rich don't pay federal income taxes.  Most of the major corporations don't pay federal income taxes.  Over 40% of Americans don't pay federal income taxes.  I feel like a stupid shit for paying mine........ >


Over 40% of Americans don't pay federal income taxes.

This one is not like the others. If someone doesn't make enough money to pay taxes, I'm not eager to start taxing single parents working the cash registers of Target. First because they are living paycheck to paycheck, and second because them paying tax won't do much. >

When I say the system is broken I mean the whole thing.  Agreed that over 40% of this country is not paying taxes because they don't make enough to support a family and pay taxes.  The wealth in this country needs to be redistributed.  Once that happens we need to ensure the vast majority of Americans (and those damn large corporations) are paying taxes. >

The 47% that Mitt Romney mentioned in a quote that made Yale Law’s top 10 quotes for 2012:
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what ... who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... and so my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." >

I remember a guy years ago (fairly high profile) who was cheated out of the presidency while ringing the alarm about billionaires. >

Good thing the same people who legislated the tax code unfairly are in charge. They’ll probably fix it soon. >

Wait—you’re telling me the tax code might be unfair?! >

Presence of water on earth raises alarms about the wetness of oceans. >

You fucking think?!?? >

Theyre just mad they got caught. Not that they exist. >

About US tax code?????
They raise alarm about the absolute godless level of corruption, ignominy and ignorance of current political "leaders". I thought Nixon was the lowest of lows to which we calibrated the level of anti-human, but now the bottom was breached!!!! What the hellfire fuck! >

Those alarms have been going off for years. We already know how unfair it is but half the country keeps voting crooks in to office who want nothing more than to keep it that way. >

Wait, you mean the system built by the rich, for the rich, is fundamentally unfair? >

Whaaa??? You mean the 75,000 page IS income tax code is convoluted?? Gtfo!
The only actual fair taxation is a flat tax. 
EVERYONE pays a fixed percent on ALL income.types with with no caps.
You received 12k in disability for 2022 you pay x%; you made 1.5B in stock trading...you pay x%....made 75k working 9-5 ...pay x%...you're a not for profit who brought in 100k last year...pay x%.
This will NEVER happen though because the government would lose their ability to provide incentives for products or trends they want to encourage, 99% of tax services would be irrelevant and CPAs would lose about half their value, and not for profits would have to start paying their fair share (including churches)....all while the IRS shrinks back about 80%....too.much money and control on the lonely to do the right thing. >

Just give everyone a failing business, now it's fair! >

No shit. It’s been like this for quite some time. And with the wealthiest people in human history. >

Breaking news: No fucking shit, Sherlocke >

Not sure why trumps tax return raises alarms? Because I bet every single politician and wealthy business person are using the tax code to their advantage. If the law allows it, you would be silly not to take advantage of the opportunities within the legal bounds of tax code.  
What I am most curious about is how someone in Congress can be worth $100 million and make stock trades that would put us in jail for insider trading >

Wait, people thought it was fair? >

r/noshitsherlock >

No shit. >

Who’s alarms are raised? The bells been ringing for a long time now. The unfairness of the tax code is what is killing the middle class. >

We need a 10% flat tax on individuals and 15% on business.  No exemptions >

Flat taxes hurt the poor way more then the rich. >

How?
 10% is 10%
No free rides >

A 10% tax on some one making $30k a year can be deviating. $3k represents multiple months of rent even in California. 
Food and rent don't scale down easily. They have a fixed floor. At lower incomes they take up a high % of your income. For people at the poverty line, they are more they can be basically 100% of what you bring in. 

No free rides

Do you really thing low income people are getting a free ride? Have you ever struggled to afford rent or food? >

LOL. We have been ringing those alarm bells for years. >

Seriously lol. It’s been widely known for a long time that the government provides tax incentives for people to invest in certain areas and industries. >

IRS is about to be defunded so it's only going to get worse. >

It’s never been fair, period. Is this clickbait >

Trump's tax returns haven't raised any alarms. 
Please with the hype train headlines >


The lone IRS agent assigned to one of Trump’s audits noted that “the lack of resources was the reason for not pursuing certain issues on the former President’s returns

Trump got Mnuchin to cripple the IRS and you can be sure that that's why no audit was done on Trump's taxes as required by law  (a purely perfunctory one was started after the Democratic Ways and Means committee in the House sent a letter to the IRS in 2019 wondering if they did an audit of Trump). 
I wouldn't get surprised that as soon as that one guy who was assigned to audit Trump was required to take his vacation and sick time right afterwards, and when he got back was encouraged to take long lunch breaks and to go home early. >


Trump got Mnuchin to cripple the IRS

Nope, it was crippled much earlier than that. The money most recently given to the IRS was in part to replace a lot of people who have left recently, as well as to replace people who will be retiring. That pretty much covers it. They still need a lot more money than they're getting. >

For 40 years they’ve been talking about simplifying the tax code but it’s only gotten more complicated. And it will continue to do so because the complexity of the tax code benefits the billionaires who provide the money for the politicians to get elected. A fair US tax code is a fantasy that will never happen. >

It also benefits the lawyer groups that make an entire career out of tax law. >

Plus accountants and TurboTax >

flat minimum tax, then increases as your income goes up. >

So, a progressive tax system? I couldn't agree more. >

id go so far as to include a clause where if you make under a certain threshold you pay nothing on income tax. >

No shit, Trump literally said the tax laws are abused by the rich in his debate with Hillary. Of course Democrats will like to forget that Clinton's and Obama's response was that there is nothing wrong with the tax code. Liberals aren't ready to hear that yet. >

Luckily the left and  mass media didn't pressure him to follow up on this promise during his tenure as President.  Gold Fish in Japan and walking down a ramp after a presser were hot topic issues though. >

I don't understand because everyone probably does the same thing >

Dude YOU pay more taxes than Trump, a purported ‘billionaire’ - even if there are others doing it, would you not want them to help pay for society’s collective needs? Surely you don’t think business happens in a vacuum, without roads and infrastructure. Do you really think Jebus would approve of blatant fraud and theft from his fellow man? >

IM WORTH BILLIONS! Also, I lose money every year, therefore I don't pay taxes. So which one is it? >

I mean he made changes to the tax code as soon as he became president. Idk how people didnt realize that would be an issue. >

It’s almost like this country is extremely preferential and protective to the needs of the rich at the expense of everyone else. >

The assholes in congress along with the IRS are to blame for financially tanking this econony by allowing the rich to not pay their share in taxes. 
Even china forced that orange asshole to pay taxes but for some reason, the U.S. IRS cant do that??? Give me a break. >

Nearly 60% of US citizens pay no tax and this article questions the fairness of the US tax code. >

Most conservatives think taxes are bad and will commend Trump for beating the system.  So for liberals to come in and say "not fair", well that's the wrong argument to make. >

So let’s abolish it and the IRS. >

That's such a dumb idea. >

Only now? It hasn’t been fair for a long time. I remember working for minimum wage and having to give up more than a third of what I earned on income tax alone, and that was during the Obama administration.
When lower class people who make peanuts have to pay a higher percentage than higher class, people who crash companies, something is very very wrong. >


I remember working for minimum wage and having to give up more than a third of what I earned on income tax alone, and that was during the Obama administration.

Yeah, no.  Taxes don't work like that.  Minimum wage earners do not pay 33% in income tax. >

Who else is more interested in Pelosis returns? >

Considering you post in conservative subreddits, it is not surprising that you feel that way. >

You say that like it's a bad thing. >

Considering the only thing Republicans seem to want to conserve is the restriction of rights for people, yeah, it is a bad thing. >

20% across the board is the only fair tax. >

More of a smoking gun than an alarm bell. >

lol alarms. >

Dave Chappelle said it best on his SNL monologue. >

duh >

perhaps thats one reason they have never been  so eager to check on returns before. id like all entities involved in government from janitors to mayors congressmen senators presidents to yearly divulge their taxes for everyone to see. >

My entire life has seen politicians give money to the wealthy. The wealthy share tax loophole information with their goons (upper middle class) so they keep them on their side by voting for more tax breaks, and the rest of the population pays for it. >

No wonder Trump didn't want them public.  He's not stupid. >

Spoiler alter: it’s not fair >

No way, you think so?  Darndest thing, coulda sworn I heard that just a -few- times. >

Alarms have been raised about fairness of tax code long before 🤡Trump. >

Raised alarms? We didn’t all already know ?? >

we don’t need his tax returns…we already know a teacher can only deduct $200 of school supplies but a corp can deduct a private jet >

Lol “fairness” >

You mean the lack of fairness baked into the he US tax code. >

Trump himself said, “I know the system is rigged?  How?  Because I use it.” >

It bugs me how he tries to use this to prove what a stable genius he is when you know the only role he played was telling his accountants to make the numbers go brrr. >

Raises alarms for who?? Who is actually shocked that rich people don't pay taxes? Progressives have been screaming about it since day-1 >

Raise alarms? If the rich paid their fair share and didn't expect the government to cover their losses nobody would be at all alarmed. >

Duh. Stupid Republicans have been voting for people who significantly lower taxes (remember the GOP Tax Scam disguised as tax ‘reform’) for the wealthy and corporations for four decades. >

Recently had an argument of sorts about this. If the American way of thinking is to 'pay as little as possible' which justifies cheating and lying, then where are we as a society? 
Vilifying someone that's successful isn't the same as wanting a fair tax code. Why people don't understand that (and they're right leaning in my experience, who also view taxation as punishment!) I'll never understand. >

What a surprise.. >

Oh wow. The Hill is super up to date with the times. This is groundbreaking reporting. >

H&R Block doesn't care if it's fair. >

I was thinking the alarms were about very likely criminal activity that needs investigating, but tax code fairness is also interesting. >

Whatever “Alarms” they raised were either by people powerless to actually change the situation or politicians who only want to appear to be concerned. >

"Moochers and Takers" >

If you’re rich enough, the IRS just gives up >

And the only changes that the government will even probably consider is how to make it easier for the billionaires to hide their cheating. >

Ngl, I want my money back. Such bullshit >

"In other news, rain is wet. More at 11." >

Oh yeah. It’s totally now when the alarms started going off. Not the past 10-20 years. >

Fairness... lol
They would kill the poor off given half a chance. >

As it should.. >

Tax code?  
What about ENFORCEMENT??? >

I hope the changes that will probably be coming down the pipeline won’t affect us poors on 1099’s that have to claim* a lot of expenses to make ends meet >

As a tax attorney, a lot of this comes down to the way real estate interests are taxed. One of the biggest giveaways is depreciation deduction. If you're a "real estate professional", meaning you dedicate 500+ hours per year to real estate, you can net losses from your real estate activity against your income.
Why is that important? Because you get depreciation when it comes to real estate. For example, let's say you buy a building for $3,000,000 and the depreciation allowance is 30 years (it's really like 27 or something, but math....). You get a $100,000 deduction each year just from the depreciation.
So, let's say that $3 million building generates an $80,000 profit each year, well... that's a $20,000 loss because of depreciation, yet you still end up with $80,000 in your pocket at the end of year.
Moreover, if you're a real estate professional, you can apply that $20,000 loss to other income, thereby reducing your taxable income.
Further, your building is actually more than likely an appreciating asset. So, let's say, after 30 years, you've depreciated the building down to $0 ($3 million was your basis and each year the basis decreased by $100,000, all the way to $0). If that was a normal asset, when you sold it, you'd pay tax on the gain, i.e., the sale price minus the basis. This is called "recapture" income and it's typically taxed at ordinary rates. However, in real estate Sec. 1245 caps recapture income for real estate at 25%.
So, to go back to our building we bought for $3 million, in 30 years, maybe it's worth $30 million. Also remember, if you didn't use those losses, you've racked up 30 years of $20,000 losses, which is $600,000. So, you get taxed on $29.4 million at 25%. But here's the thing, you don't sell the real estate. You do a 1031 exchange, and you flip into a larger property and never pay taxes on it because you engaged a tax attorney and you've made sure it will pass to your heirs when you die. They'll get a step up in basis, meaning, instead of having a $0 basis (because it was depreciated for 30 years), it will a basis at fair market value.
That's just one of the techniques used.
Then you have the current Sec. 199A 20% deduction that was passed as part of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. This means, if you reported $100,000 in profit, you'd be eligible for up to a 20% deduction, i.e., you'd be taxed on $80,000.
Compare just those two to W2 wages, where at the source all taxes are withheld - effectively there is no way to screw around with your taxes as a W2 employee except if you underwithhold.
These aren't loopholes, or to put it another way, these aren't bugs, they're features. They should be removed, but real estate has some of the most beneficial provisions in the tax code. Fix that, and you'd start to fix a lot of the problems. >

Is that unfairness the fact that the US is unique in that it taxes by citizenship while the rest of the world taxes by residency? So even if a US citizen doesn't live in the US, has no US source income, no US based assets and literally no financial link to the US they are still required to file and potentially pay US taxes (on top of their tax obligations to the country they actually live and earn income in). 
Even if foreign tax credits and exclusions means that a US citizen abroad doesn't actually owe US taxes simply filing and remaining US tax compliant can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. US citizens abroad can't just use any run of the mill US accountant, they need to hire tax advisors who are knowledgeable in both the US and the local tax code where they live because what may be a good tax move in one country may have massive negative tax implications in the other. 
For example retirement accounts in many countries aren't seen by the IRS as recognised retirement savings accounts so any local tax benefits that the US abroad is given to encourage retirement saving by their country of resident is taken away by the IRS. In Australia there are mandatory retirement savings accounts where by law employers must put a percentage of their workers income into but the IRS doesn't recognise these accounts so tries to tax these these Australian earned, Australian based retirement savings that US citizens in Australia had no choice about even having in the first place.
And you know who can most easily afford these tax advisors and convoluted schemes to get around all this? The wealthy! All while regular and middle class US citizens abroad often need to decide between their financial stability or remaining US tax compliant. >

Please make trump a martyr in tax reform >

My alarm was raised when I was audited for $250 last year due to a discrepancy with unemployment during Covid. I barely made 24k that year after finding work. Absolutely ridiculous. >

It's not like it is news they go after people who make less and usually have less complicated tax filings.  That has been all but publicly admitted by them in recent years. >

NOW? 
Jesus Christ. >

It's more about the corruption in IRS than the tax code. IRS has allowed the rich to get away with $Trillions in fraud because it is much easier and much more enjoyable to destroy people that cannot afford a lawyer, even when they recover less than it cost. >

This should raise alarm about the tax code. These billionaires have bought our tax system and it should change. Jeff Bezo doesn’t take a salary at all. He just borrows money from Amazon with no intention of paying it back. The value of his company is in the hundreds of billions of dollars and he doesn’t pay any personal income taxes. This is crazy. But don’t count on a republican congress doing anything about it. Bernie and Elizabeth tried to get something through congress but couldn’t. It would take people taking to the streets to get anything changed. And that’s not a gimmy. Occupy Wall Street tried and failed. >

I mean, who doesn’t know that the middle class is footing the bill for everything while the 1% lobby for tax breaks on everything. >

What fairness?
We use taxes to break the backs of the poor while keeping the nation afloat.
Fuck taxes >

YOU DONT SAY. Fuck this dog and pony show. >

This is like taking the 5th.  Trump even said that only criminals take the 5th and then took it 400 times. 
If you have nothing to hide, why does it matter?
It especially matters to politicians regardless or party. >

If this ass clown’s tax returns are just now “raising alarms” in the lack of fairness in tax policy, then the goobers in charge have no idea how things have been for quite some time. >

Every rich person is doing this. he admitted it, this isn’t new >

That is how the USA is set up.
Enforced Laws and rules for the 99%
Unenforced Laws and rules for  the 1% >

Insert: First Time? meme >

It was unfair before and definitely unfair now.  Why should he, or anybody get away with this shit?  Laws for us, but not for them. >

What?!?!?! >

Trump is the only president to lose money while in office. Bushes, Obama, Clinton’s all got filthy rich. Who do you trust? >

He's good at losing money! How many businesses bankrupt over the years? >

Steak, football, casinos and alcohol businesses Trump went into all went belly up......in America