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  #16 (permalink)  
Old 04-18-2007
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goober goober is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

Tax day is now April 19, if you E-File with Turbo tax.
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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address
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  #17 (permalink)  
Old 04-18-2007
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goober goober is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil_inKarlate View Post
Good call, otherwise any penalties would be overtturned under the equal protection clause. (Well, Should be, but since the SCOTUS only views the Constitution as a set of guidelines, you can't be sure...)

Thanks for the explanation! (Tho I was still Partly right - it was 'for some weird-ass reason'!)
It's not for Equal Protection. It's because theres an old statute that says you can't have a Federal due date on a DC Holiday, and DC recently made April 16 into Emancipation Day. The other states on the list got the extra day because they mail their forms to Massachusetts, which celebrates Patriots Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
The IRS gave those states and DC the extra day, then after they printed the forms, discovered an old statute that said DC Holidays could not be Federal due dates. So the whole country gets the extra day when the 16th is a Monday.
Massachusetts and the states served by the Andover Center, get the extra day when the 15th is a Saturday, Sunday or a Monday.
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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address
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  #18 (permalink)  
Old 04-20-2007
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Imperator Imperator is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

instead of arguing the date why don't we debate the amt?
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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

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  #19 (permalink)  
Old 04-20-2007
wrxsti wrxsti is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

I too am concerned about the AMT. It has morphed from a seemingly reasonable method of snaring those who twisted the tax laws beyond reason to a trap for the (upper?) middle class - not its intent.

They keep piling it on the middle. Those on the low end of the scale pay little or nothing, many of those on the top keep finding creative loopholes, and those of us in the center end up footing the tab. The AMT, rumors of limits or reductions on deductions for mortgage interest, and so on. Oh well, old Franklin was right. Bend over and grab your ankles.
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  #20 (permalink)  
Old 04-21-2007
Hudson Hudson is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

Quote:
Originally Posted by wrxsti View Post
I too am concerned about the AMT. It has morphed from a seemingly reasonable method of snaring those who twisted the tax laws beyond reason to a trap for the (upper?) middle class - not its intent.

They keep piling it on the middle. Those on the low end of the scale pay little or nothing, many of those on the top keep finding creative loopholes, and those of us in the center end up footing the tab. The AMT, rumors of limits or reductions on deductions for mortgage interest, and so on. Oh well, old Franklin was right. Bend over and grab your ankles.
The problem with AMT is that it has never been indexed for inflation. The increasing incomes over the years, the lower marginal tax breaks, the adjustments to income, increased itemized deductions subject to AMT, and so forth, as resulted in more and more people subject to AMT, including children if they have investment income.

If we roll back the marginal tax breaks above $100k will only decrease the rate which middel income taxpayers may be subject to the AMT. If we increase the exemption amount will have only the same net effect. If we eliminate the AMT, then one party will be decrying tax favoritism for the "rich." Any solution will now have to offset either by increasing taxes or program cuts or both. Congress, effectively, has killed any chance of AMT reform, with its pay-as-you-go policy. Perhaps that was not a wise decision by the House leadership.
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  #21 (permalink)  
Old 04-22-2007
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

The AMT has been left in place because when they do the five year budget projections, the huge projected tax revenues from AMT are what reduces deficit and balances the budget. Fix AMT and you have to raise taxes to balance the budget, and that is not a vote getter, unless you raise the top rates, make he inheritance tax more effective by eliminating loopholes, and raise capital gains and dividend taxes. But that's the GOP core constituency that gets banged there, which is why AMT reform has been a non-starter up til now.
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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address
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  #22 (permalink)  
Old 04-23-2007
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Evil_inKarlate Evil_inKarlate is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

Quote:
It has morphed from a seemingly reasonable method of snaring those who twisted the tax laws beyond reason to a trap for the (upper?) middle class - not its intent.
Hate to break it to you, but it was Never reasonable. If there is a problem with 'rich' people abusing loopholes, the solution is to get rid of the loopholes, not to create a separate tax system for them.

Above and beyond whatever one might think of our tax rates and brackets, the tax system needs an overhaul. I was doing tax forms for other people by hand in junior high, so I have a decent tax background and math accumen, but now I can't even do my own fairly simple Schedule D without software! (Well, I suppose I Could, but it would involve considerable effort and inconvenience.)

For better or worse, that's probably the only way Congress (Repub And Dem) will have the balls to do anything about AMT - spread the pain and confusion around enough so everybody feels fairly equal, while claiming it's really in everybody's best interest.
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  #23 (permalink)  
Old 04-23-2007
Hudson Hudson is offline
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Re: Todays tax day ! yea baby!! and an AMT update

Quote:
Originally Posted by goober View Post
The AMT has been left in place because when they do the five year budget projections, the huge projected tax revenues from AMT are what reduces deficit and balances the budget. Fix AMT and you have to raise taxes to balance the budget, and that is not a vote getter, unless you raise the top rates, make he inheritance tax more effective by eliminating loopholes, and raise capital gains and dividend taxes. But that's the GOP core constituency that gets banged there, which is why AMT reform has been a non-starter up til now.
You might want to tell that to Sen Baucus because he and Sen Grassley have been one of the staunchest supporters of reforming AMT. Of course, he might laugh in your face, or might laugh behind your back.

BTW: AMT has been around since 1969 and it is a cash cow for both parties. The problem is how to fix the AMT so that it would create a lesser burden on middle class taxpayers.
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