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Commentary on Taxation from Trader Rog

Big Al
January 12, 2015

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Discussion
23 Comments
    Jan 12, 2015 12:42 AM

    real soulution is to drop rate slightly on medicare payroll tax and lift the cap to 1million so the rich pay more of medicare burden. the whole thing needs a redo but lots of people and corps still pay little or no income tax.

      Jan 12, 2015 12:12 PM

      Do you really think they would use the money for Medicare? And is allocating even more money for Medicare going to do anything to stop the spiraling cost of healthcare? Why is the answer always higher taxes?

    Jan 12, 2015 12:28 PM

    If you go to a place like http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/whathappened.asp you will see they rate this whole thing as mostly false. Here is what they say:
    “Origins: This item about a collection of U.S. tax increases which were supposedly enacted as of 1 January 2015 due to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act was circulated widely at the beginning of 2015, but it was merely an updated version of identical claims circulated the previous year that set 1 January 2014 or 1 July 2014 as the imposition date for those tax increases.

    Although the tax increases listed in this item did come to pass, they took effect at the beginning of 2013 (not 2014 or 2015), were completely unrelated to the Affordable Care Act, applied only to very high-income earners, and have been overstated in this list. These tax hikes were enacted through the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, a compromise bill pushed through Congress as a partial resolution to the then-looming “fiscal cliff” crisis. Under the provisions of that bill:

    The top marginal federal income tax rate increased from 35% to 39.6%

    The top marginal tax rate on long-term capital gains increased from 15% to 20% (not 28%).

    The top marginal tax rate on dividends increased from 15% to 20% (not 39.6%).

    Estate taxes increased from 35% of an estate’s value in excess of $5,120,000 (in 2012) to 40% of the value above $5,340,000 (in 2014).

    It’s important to note that the increase in marginal tax rates for federal income tax, capital gains, and dividends affected only those persons with taxable incomes over a $400,000 (single)/$450,000 (married) threshold. It’s also important to note that the previous estate tax rate of 0% was a special rule that applied only to the estates of persons who died in 2010 (the estate tax has since been increased to 35% for those who died in 2011 and 40% for those who died in 2012 and thereafter), and even today an
    estate tax filing is required only for estates with gross assets in excess of $5 million (indexed for inflation).

    The list’s reference to an “income payroll tax” increase from 37.4% to 52.2% is something of a mystery, as this is not a standard term for any type of government income- or payroll-related tax. The only adjustment to payroll-related taxes resulting from the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was that a two-year old cut to payroll taxes which had previously reduced the rate from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011 and 2012 was not extended.

    Additionally, this item’s coda claiming that “not one Republican voted to do these taxes” is completely false. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 passed Congress by a margin of 89-8 in the Senate with 40 Republican votes in favor, and a margin of 257-167 in the House with 85 Republican votes in favor. (The original claim undoubtedly refers to the House or Representatives’ voting in 2010 to pass the health-care reform bill without a single Republican vote in favor, but that association is moot because, as noted, the tax increases listed above had nothing to do with that bill.)

    Last updated: 2 January 2015
    Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/whathappened.asp#TZQyIHUKT5CzY0Cu.99

    Jan 12, 2015 12:44 PM

    I’m sorry folks but none of this was done as an Executive Fiat by Obama – these changes mainly were done in a bill called the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012”. See: http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/whathappened.asp

    It is sad that people so hate Obama that they immediately grab onto and spread any and all rumors, even recycled ones, that portray Obama as some sort of dictator. It is fine to have problems with what Obama does but to spread fact free charges that he has done this or that without even consulting something like google isn’t gonna help anybody solve any of our problems.

      Jan 12, 2015 12:28 PM

      What’s really sad is that nearly half of the voters were ok with Bush while nearly the other half is ok with Obama. This means that nearly 100% of U.S. voters supported one of the two worst presidents in U.S. history.
      A hero of the slightly more thoughtful left explains why Obama is worse than Bush:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mA4HYTO790

    Jan 12, 2015 12:13 PM

    “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012″

    How is raising taxes considered relief?

      Jan 12, 2015 12:33 PM

      Read 1984 😉

        Jan 12, 2015 12:22 PM

        It’s moving that direction Matthew.

    Jan 12, 2015 12:18 PM

    What Roger Wiegand said does not jive with what I have found. From Morningstar:

    “Not too much to report here. Dividend and capital gains rates will remain the same in 2015 as they were last year, though the income tax brackets used to determine those rates have been adjusted for inflation. Investors who are in the 39.6% income tax bracket will pay a 20% tax rate on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains; investors in the 25% to 35% brackets will pay a 15% tax rate on qualified dividends and long-term gains; and investors in the 10% and 15% tax brackets for income tax will owe 0% tax on dividends and long-term capital gains.”

    http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=679625

    It appear Roger Wiegard is quoting from a chain email that gets tax rates all wrong. See below:

    http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jan/05/chain-email/what-will-happen-taxes-january-2015-chain-email-wr/

      Jan 12, 2015 12:28 PM

      Roger Wiegard’s adviser is never wrong? He checks everything very carefully? Must be a joke. What is wrong with this guy? It took me a minute to find out what he said was not correct.

        Jan 12, 2015 12:28 PM

        J Miller,

        So….what was not correct?
        Show your findings!

        Oh I know, you can’t

        bj
        Jan 12, 2015 12:22 PM

        Look on the bright side. In an imperfect world, unintended consequences can range from good to bad depending how they land on you or you see it, and to confound things, there are trade-offs, even coincidences.

        Is it just my imagination or did franky leave us about the time Mr. Wiegard reappeared. Coincidence, causality; good, bad? Hard to say, but I’m missing franky in an imperfect way..

    Jan 12, 2015 12:43 PM

    Just to let you know J Miller, the 55% estate tax was tucked ” conveniently ” into the gazillion page affordable care act! ( goofball..)

    Jan 12, 2015 12:03 PM

    A great news for mining equity investors. I heard from david smith of silver investors.com. TSX has made a new rule that if they owe fee to accountant, their filing will be rejected. This may result in about 500-600 juniors to be delisted. Not sure true or not. It was on Howestreet.com. This will finally remove the dead weight. It will start in march.

    A fool and his money are soon parted…………Proverbs………….

      Jan 13, 2015 13:32 AM

      Hey J! Where have you been? It’s funny you showed up when you did, I was just thinking about putting up a message to you to see if you were still here but lurking.

      Hope you’re well mi amigo.
      M

    Jan 13, 2015 13:50 AM

    This item about a collection of U.S. tax increases which were supposedly enacted as of 1 January 2015 due to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act was circulated widely at the beginning of 2015, but it was merely an updated version of identical claims circulated the previous year that set 1 January 2014 or 1 July 2014 as the imposition date for those tax increases.

    Although the tax increases listed in this item did come to pass, they took effect at the beginning of 2013 (not 2014 or 2015), were completely unrelated to the Affordable Care Act, applied only to very high-income earners, and have been overstated in this list. These tax hikes were enacted through the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, a compromise bill pushed through Congress as a partial resolution to the then-looming “fiscal cliff” crisis. Under the provisions of that bill:
    The top marginal federal income tax rate increased from 35% to 39.6%
    The top marginal tax rate on long-term capital gains increased from 15% to 20% (not 28%).
    The top marginal tax rate on dividends increased from 15% to 20% (not 39.6%).
    Estate taxes increased from 35% of an estate’s value in excess of $5,120,000 (in 2012) to 40% of the value above $5,340,000 (in 2014).

    Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/whathappened.asp#2AwVbEUqZH4OJfpm.99