first time posting here...I am a longtime TGGI "holder" (i.e 17+ million shares (yipes!)...
hope all the "machinations" and "optimisms" payoff SOONN..
In the meantime this is "off topic" but I thought it was interesting to read...If i goofed up by posting this please say so ok?
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There's only one real way to escape taxes...
This year the filing date for paying taxes was Monday because of Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. In an odd twist of fate, it only freed us from filing our taxes for three extra days.
Emancipation Day commemorates the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act – a law that gave slaves in the city their freedom and paid slave owners in the nation’s capital $300 for each slave that was released. It was signed nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation.
Tax Freedom Day should be a holiday, too. This year, it falls on April 24, which actually is a day later than last year. According to the Tax Foundation, if you dedicated 100 percent of your income entirely to the taxes you pay, you get to keep anything you earn beginning on this day. My tax freedom day falls on any day I actually have my tax forms filed and taxes paid, but it does place a different perspective on things when you realize you have just spent nearly a third of the year working solely to pay for the government.
In a bigger twist of fate, the new filing date fell on Patriots’ Day. It’s the day that commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord starting the Revolutionary War – a dispute that began over unfair taxation.
So when does lawful taxation become unfair? Is it when the average person works a third of the year paying off the government or is it when we tax the rich a higher rate for making too much money? Is it unfair when the government picks the winners and losers in this tax shuffle by boosting select industries or people through subsidies? Is it fair when those dollars go to foreign interests over American priorities? When is it considered fair?
The average dollar is assessed a federal tax, a state tax, a FICA tax, and a Medicare tax before it’s put onto your paycheck. For the average family in Sauk County, that dollar loses 29 cents right off the top. The take home pay is 71 cents on the dollar.
That would probably be all well and good, but if you spend that dollar it is going to get taxed again. If you spend your money on clothing, your working dollar is now down to 67 cents. If you spend it on gas for your car, that purchasing power is actually down to 53 cents. For those making more than $466,950 a year these numbers are even lower – subtract another 24 cents. Their purchasing power drops down to 29 cents when they fill their cars with gas.
I understand there are deductions and credits, but that’s still a lot of the economy being gobbled up in taxes. There are still a bunch of other taxes that are pecking away at these dollars.
There are different tax rates when you purchase a beer, decide to smoke, or even rent a room when you take a vacation. All of them devalue your dollar. On the other hand, these things are optional, so maybe we should pay a tax on them. Don’t forget about the penalty tax you’re going to be paying when you don’t spend your money on things like health insurance.
Then there are the taxes you pay toward local government, county government, technical schools and local school districts. Even if you rent your home, these taxes are paid through your landlord. You might pay these taxes after you’ve collected your paycheck, but you need to take them off the top or you’ll come up short at the end of the year.
All of this might even be fine if, at face value, you felt like you were getting some bang for your buck. Every year, we hear about massive federal deficits, failing schools, a broken infrastructure system and massive amounts of fraud and abuse. When you forfeit what is easily more than half of your dollar into making these things work, one should ask government why we are having these problems. This system seems to be failing, yet they want more money.
Ultimately, it’s not because the rich are getting richer or they’re not paying their fair share. It’s simply bad government. We sent millions of dollars to New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina yet they still blamed someone else for their failure. It comes down to fiscal management.
The good news is that in the end, if you have enough left, there is an estate tax. Only then can you finally enjoy freedom from taxes.
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AI
