Does europe have a sales tax?
Claiming that the average American pays over 50% in taxes is absurd. There are so many things wrong with those numbers that it's hard to say where to begin. I make over $85k per year and my total tax bite is less than 30%. That includes income, sales, real & personal property, gasoline, and other excise taxes. Most high income Americans don't earn that money, they generate it from capital gains, qualified dividends, and carried interest which are taxed a a maximum rate of 20% (15% in 2005 when the numbers on the link were compiled). Taxpayers with very high earned income pay FICA taxes at a much lower rate than 7.65% since the Social Security tax stops at the annual cap ($117,000 for 2014). Very high income taxpayers don't pay anywhere near 9% in sales taxes as they don't spend all of their income; most of it is saved or rolled into other investments. Rolling part of the corporate income tax onto individuals is disingenuous at best since corporate income taxes are based upon net profit and rarely factor significantly into the prices charged for corporate goods and services. All European countries have consumption taxes, however these are in the form of VAT that is included in the shelf price. The average rate on most taxable goods is 20%. Foods, medicines, certain clothing items and other basic necessities generally have much lower rates of VAT applied. European countries also have substantially higher taxes than the US in most areas. Income taxes are 10% to 50% higher. VAT averages more than double the average US sales tax (which again is less than 9%). Fuel taxes run over $5 per gallon which results in pump prices on the order of $8 per gallon in most of Europe. Many European countries levy a tax of several hundred dollars per year on the right to operate a TV set and Belgium even levies one on radios. France has a wealth tax on your net worth if it exceeds a fairly generous base amount. About the only area where Europeans pay lower taxes than Americans is property taxes.
Should people who don't pay taxes have the right to vote in the USA?
The answer to this question is Constitutionally sealed, as explained very well in Lisa Borodkin's answer.That said, I want to add to the answers explaining why it's a very bad idea regardless.First off, which taxes should impact my right to vote in which elections?If I owe local taxes but have paid federal taxes, should I be allowed to vote for federal seats but not local seats? What about federal seats representing local seats (e.g. senators from my state)?If I start paying taxes again, does that mean I get my right to vote back? How quickly? If I get my right to vote back more quickly than a term in office, then I can fail to pay taxes without effectively losing the right to vote - so long as I pay in time for election year. That seems a bit odd.What about otherwise eligible voters who are still dependents of someone else, or have no direct income of their own for whatever other reason?Don't we already have criminal statutes for tax evasion/noncompliance, and other legislature to clarify the voting rights of current or former criminals? Why would we need such a system (as the one proposed in the question) to begin with?
What are your thoughts when your tax returns say you owe money to the IRS?
What are your thoughts when your tax returns say you owe money to the IRS?If you’re self-employed or own your own small business they always say that.You get used to it even though it’s not fun.
How does raising taxes (sucking money out of the economy) help the economy?
Kirby - I can tell you mean well. But the reason the Bush tax cuts didn't have the desired effect is because he spent like a Democrat. You have to cut taxes AND cut spending. Heck, cut spending before you cut taxes.
Indiana taxes want me to "add back" taxes...help?
If you paid taxes based on income to a state for any entity and deducted it on the federal return, then you have to add it back on the IN IT-40. The instructions clearly say to not add-back property taxes. This is a carry-over from the prior Indiana tax law. You used to have to add back any property taxes deducted on the federal return to the Indiana return. They changed that when they started letting individuals deduct the property taxes paid on their homes. It would be fairly rare to have deducted income taxes on a schedule C, F or E on the federal return, so in almost all cases, there is not an entry on the add-back line anymore. The actual instructions for the line are on page 8 of the instruction book, but they are not that clear either. I used to own a CPA practice in Indiana, and after the law was changed, I don't remember ever seeing a case where we had an entry on that line. It would be possible, but fairly rare.
Since yelling is as bad as hitting, shouldn't it be illegal?
I would have to say, since I’ve known people with permanent physical damage from physical abuse, including permanent mental disabilities from physical brain damage…Whoever wrote that study did not know what the hell they were talking about, and physical abuse is worse than mental abuse.Try yelling at someone.I’m going to guess that after you are done yelling, they are not blind in one eye. That they do not have crippled hands, preventing them from ever learning to play a musical instrument. That they will not need dental work before they will be able to enjoy eating an apple again.As someone who was physically bullied as a kid, I have to say that someone yelling at you? Yeah, that’s nothing.
Is it illegal to yell out "FIRE" in a crowded movie theater?
Inciting a riot can be enforced selectively. A fleabagger can riot because they're employed by the DNC criminals. Anyone else gets arrested.
What were the consequences of Joe Wilson yelling "You lie!" during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress in 2009?
When Obama denounced as false the claim that this proposed health care system “would insure legal immigrants,” Wilson yelled "You lie!"Immigrants and their U.S.-born children make up more than 40 percent of new Medicaid recipients at a cost of $4.6 billion, according to an analysis of government data. (2014)One report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined Affordable Care Act tax credits meant to defray the cost of insurance premiums. It found that as of June 2015, “the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence.”Prior to Wilson's outburst, Obama said “Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” said the president. “Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.”Joe Wilson may have been shockingly impolite, but he was correct. Obama DID lie.