[ryandrake]

How about simply the principle:

1. I should be able to deduct the same sorts of things from my individual income that corporations routinely deduct from their income.

If a corporation can legally shield all of their income from taxes, why can't I shield all of my income from taxes? Corporations can deduct the costs of all the things they have to do to make money and do weird depreciation tricks, but I cannot deduct the costs of all the things I must pay for in order to make my own income.

[SideQuark]

You do. The biggest of all tax giveaways is the home mortgage deduction and tax deduction on employer paid healthcare. The tax sheltered things like retirement accounts, HSAs, Roths, college savings plans, energy credits, home improvement credits, car breaks, annd do on, are also huge tax giveaways to citizens. Those are the biggest tax breaks in all US law, far larger than all of corporate breaks combined.

Then, as a citizen, you have tax cuts for kids, for school, for various small enterprises, for local this and that by jurisdiction, you do get depreciation on lots of goods. I could go on for the thousands and thousands of pages of personal income tax law.

Being ignorantly of a thing to arrive at outrage is still ignorance.

[ryandrake]

None of these things, or even the combination of all of these things, allows an individual to shield 100% of their income from taxes, the way corporations shield their income from taxes.

[freeone3000]

They absolutely do! Earned Income is a refundable tax credit - 47% of all Americans pay no net income tax, and some receive a refund in excess of any taxes paid.

[kccoder]

* excluding payroll tax deductions, both personal and employer paid (which is effectively still a tax you're paying). They also pay sales tax, which isn't an income tax per se, but when you have to spend every dollar you make to survive, it might as well be.

Everyone contributes.

[scotty79]

I think tax on labor is actually tax on corporations. The only tax on corporations that the corporations can't dodge.

[SideQuark]

If you have enough rolloverloss from one year to another, then you can pay 0%, same as a corporation. In fact, over 40% of people pay zero federal income tax, and a significant amount get lots of govt money, so they’re getting effectively a negative income tax.

The vast majority of corp pay income tax, unless (and this is nearly never many years in a row) they have such tax rollovers from prev year.

Now, they also still pay property taxes, enemployment taxes, half your SS, taxes on goods bought, and a host of other taxes, independent from income taxes.

All your outrage is simply ignorance of how taxes work, and so far you’re wrong about all your unfounded belief. Go read how taxes work, learn to read SEC filings. CBO has detailed solid reports prepared covering all this stuff.

When you think something about taxes is outrageous, it’s going to be because you don’t understand them, and you’ve filled your head with tripe from sources designed to mislead you. Read actual tax law and filings, and all this misunderstanding will go away.

[freeone3000]

I think it’s outrageous that the IRS doesn’t just compute taxes for us. And I think it’s ridiculous US citizens have to file regardless of where they are.

[iforgot22]

You mention mortgage interest deduction, EV tax credits, and energy credits. I'm pretty sure corps qualify for all of those, and with no SALT cap. Then they get to deduct food, rent, utilities, and car ownership/depreciation, which I can't. And their tax rate is flat. There's a reason people find loopholes to push personal expenses into businesses, not the other way around. I would most likely pay less tax if I were somehow a corporation, even if it meant losing my 401(k) and HSA.

Of course, you can't literally compare corps to people. Their profits are ultimately paid out to individuals and taxed again. People don't exactly have revenues. So I'm not saying the current way is wrong, but the statement you're responding to isn't ignorant.

[mindslight]

This is one of the most galling things you realize when you start doing business taxes. If individuals were able to deduct expenses necessary to earn income like businesses do, that would include most meals, full cost of housing (not just mortgage interest), most utilities, vehicles [0], etc. And there would be no "standard deduction" to clear, either.

[0] official IRS policy is that "commuting" expenses are not deductible, but practically you declare the principal place of business as your home, and then anywhere else you go is no longer commuting.

[downrightmike]

Didn't the Nortel CEO in the 90's get an allowance from the company for all that personal stuff?