No answer to my previous query...
(John! You there, buddy...?!?!)
(*SIGH*)
...but I'll keep on asking the uncomfortable questions.
Anyway... hope you folks read this weekend's newsbites! Some good stuff! All in the comments section...
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/101015065
That "47%" quote that helped sink Mitt Romney's presidential hopes? Better make that 43% now.
The share of households who aren't paying any federal income tax has fallen, and a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center predicts that it will continue to shrink in years to come.
* GOOD!
That's partly because a slew of temporary tax cuts enacted during the Great Recession have started to expire. And it's partly because an improving economy means people's incomes should slowly start to increase, adding to their income tax bill.
* BUT INCOMES AREN'T RISING... NOT IN REAL TERMS... SO...??? (IS INFLATION THE "CULPRIT?")
By 2024, the tax policy think tank projects that only about one-third of households won't be paying any federal income taxes.
* THAT'S STILL WAY... WAY... WAY TOO HIGH. (AND THAT'S ASSUMING THEY'RE CORRECT IN THEIR PREDICTION!)
The improvements might take a while because the economy has been adding new jobs at a painfully slow pace, and many workers aren't yet seeing much bigger paychecks.
Romney made "the 47%" famous during his 2012 Republican presidential campaign, after he was secretly recorded at a closed-door fundraiser saying that 47% of the population is dependent on government, [and that this 47%] believes the government has a responsibility to care for them "and will vote for [President Obama] no matter what."
Romney was widely believed to have been referencing an earlier analysis released by the Tax Policy Center, which estimated that 47% of households paid no federal income taxes in 2009.
So who makes up the 43%?
Roberton Williams, a senior fellow with the Tax Policy Center [ran an] analysis [that] found that about 29% of all households include people who are working, and subject to payroll taxes, but don't have a federal income tax bill. That could be because of deductions or other tax breaks. Another approximately 10% are elderly, and they likely aren't paying federal income taxes because they don't have much income beyond Social Security. A smaller portion — about 3% — are making less than $20,000 a year and therefore aren't subject to federal income tax because they are too poor.
* PONDER THIS: $20K/YR. IS CERTAINLY POOR IF ONE IS THE BREADWINNER FOR A FAMILY. HOW'BOUT IF ONE IS TWENTY-FOUR OR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD... OUT OF COLLEGE OR PERHAPS NEVER WENT TO COLLEGE... LIVES WITH MOM AND DAD RENT FREE... MOM AND DAD MIGHT EVEN PAY CERTAIN EXPENSES LIKE CAR INSURANCE... (*PAUSE*)... MY POINT IS THAT THERE'S "THE POOR" AND THEN THERE'S "LOW INCOME." WHY SHOULD ANYONE GET A TOTAL PASS...? 1% OF $20k IS $200 - RIGHT? WOULD THAT REALLY BE TOO MUCH TO ASK...?
That leaves about 1% of taxpayers who have other special circumstances, such as they are already paying foreign taxes.
Those who pay no federal income taxes aren't all low wage earners. Thousands of people who have income of more than $200,000 a year have been able to zero out their federal income tax bill, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.
* YEP...!
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