Comparison: State Income Tax, Oregon vs. Florida

Taxes are unavoidable because government is needed and government operates on tax revenues. The FairTax is a tax-inclusive progressive national retail sales tax that replaces every other federal tax in America. The new national sales tax would be 23%. Although there have been some questions as to whether the sales tax rate is 23% or 30% and they stem from the meaning of tax-inclusive and tax exclusive. The sales tax in Florida is an example of an exclusive tax because it works of a preset base. If a person buys something for 1$ and pays a .30$ tax on it the sales tax is 30 percent because it is .30$ on the dollar. With the inclusive tax the item would cost 1.30 because the tax is included with the cost. The tax rate of 23% is calculated by

Hoffman, W., Maloney, D., Raabe, W., & Young, J. (2013). Federal Taxation Comprehensive Volume. (36 ed.). Ohio: South-W

Aside from being a free state Florida has a lot of job opportunities for people who need a job. Either part time job or full time. Also, the prices in Florida are lower than other states because there is no state taxes. Florida is one of the seven states that impose no income tax and it’s the most suitable state for retirees. Another thing is that Florida has a lot of attractions that people can go and visit. For example, there’s Walt Disney world, universal, and more. It also has a lot of beaches. Like, cocoa beach and clear water.

Paying Taxes - Taxes are money taken from citizens that is used to fund the nation. Federal, state, local governments collect taxes from the citizens to be able to keep those governments and schools running, hiring police officers and firefighters to protect, and transportation (roads, trains, buses). If a citizen was to avoid paying taxes, they could possibly face jail time or monumental fines.

The arguments regarding federal progressive income tax has been represented to us through the United States Supreme Court, on the floors of congress, and in media. The revenue from taxes reached the objective of financing wars from the Civil War through World War II. At the same time deteriorating the economy with fewer dollars that could be used on imports, exports, and services (Henchman). Today, the United States deficit is $18,800,241,350,538.12 this is a grand total of 58,405.32 owed by every man, woman, and child (Brown). The legal illusion is presenting the question, is income tax legal? There are Americans today who believe income tax is not legal and stand by their beliefs in a movement that has cost many individuals considerably. I am interviewing such a person, his name is Bobby Ray and the history he presented to me was interesting, and has left me with more questions than answers.

The Revenue Act of 1862 is the first instance of income tax in America. It imposed a progressive income tax rate on Union citizens in order to raise money for the war effort against the Confederacy. http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/personal-income-taxes/income-tax.htmThe income tax was abolished in 1872, declared unconstitutional in 1895, and then passed as an amendment in 1913.http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1986/winter/civil-war-tax-records.html Cite everything above! The 16th amendment states “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” (YOU NEED

The first proposal to impose an income tax on Americans occurred during the War of 1812. After two years of war, the federal government had accumulated a whopping $100 million of debt. To fund the war against Britain, the government doubled the rates of its major source of revenue, customs duties on imports, which obstructed trade and ended up yielding less revenue than the previous lower rates. At the height of the war, excise taxes were imposed on goods and commodities, housing, slaves and land were taxed. Finally when the war ended in 1816, these taxes were abolished. A high tariff was then passed to retire the accumulated war debt. Thankfully, the notion of an income tax was conquered (Young, 2004). However, the thought of the income tax reappeared as an idea to fund the Union armies in the war to prevent the secession of the Confederacy. The war was expensive, costing on average $1,750,000 a day. Struggling to meet these expenses, the Republican Congress borrowed heavily, doubled tariff rates, sold off public lands, imposed a maze of licensing fees, increased old excise tax rates and created new excise taxes. But none of this was enough to fund the debt (Young, 2004)..

The government of the people and for the people is only as good as the people voting and people running for those votes. As a nation, elections throughout its history have had controversy tied to them. The SunShine state is an important state for the national elections and for generating issues for the people as a whole. Being a swing state means Florida issues have power nationally, but it also means that the local elections may generate interest from the national government. Winning candidates from the 2016 election show this most notably.

So you would think Ohio would have a great climate for small business, especially since it’s a Republican state. That’s not the case. See, there is this tax called the Commercial Activity Tax, which makes it virtually impossible for small businesses to remain financially stable in the state of Ohio. According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, “The commercial activity tax (CAT) is an annual tax imposed on the privilege of doing business in Ohio, measured by gross receipts from business activities in Ohio. Businesses with Ohio taxable gross receipts of $150,000 or more per calendar year must register for the CAT, file all the applicable returns, and make all corresponding payments” (ODT). To understand what all this means, you must first understand that gross receipts are basically the total amount of money that a company or business received before taxes. If a business receives over $150,000 they are required to pay $150, or the Annual Minimum Tax, with no excessive tax. But any business receiving over $1 million in a calendar year is required to pay a rate of 0.26% on all gross receipts and about $1000 to $2000 for the Annual Minimum Tax. It doesn’t sound too bad in theory, but according to an article titled Ohio’s Commercial Activity Tax: A Reappraisal, written by

Florida has no estate taxes which is protected by the save our homes initiative property tax assessments, which stop it from inflating. This helps the seniors keep their property taxes down. Arizona stands with 4.54 % being its highest marginal rate on joint income of $300,000 and a sales tax of 6.6%, which generally doesn’t affect the seniors because their social security is not taxable there. Arizona’s tax friendly rating is in big part because of the property tax protections they have

Florida is one of the seven state that doesn’t has Income Tax. Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming are the other six states. Even thou Florida doesn’t has an income tax, there are many others taxes influencing our economy. The state has to pay their bills too! Mayor’s taxes that are collected in Florida are: sales tax, use tax, intangible tax and corporate income tax.

Our current income tax system today is very complex, unfair, inhibits saving, investment and job creation, imposes a heavy burden on families, and weakens the integrity of the democratic process. It can't be fixed and must be replaced. The U.S. income tax code is a long and complex system. The income tax system is so complex; the IRS publishes 480 tax forms and 280 forms to explain the 480 forms. The IRS sends out eight billion pages of forms and instructions each year. The administrative costs of the tax system far exceed those borne directly by the IRS. Each year Americans devote 5.4 billion hours complying with the tax code, which is more time than it takes to build every car, truck, and van produced in the U.S.

Did you know that an astonishing 43.4 percent of the people in America do not pay any income taxes" (McCullagh 1)? This is roughly 65.6 million people that aren't paying taxes and this is putting our economy and country at its breaking point. Our current tax system penalizes those that work and save money. People that pay no taxes still get to enjoy the benefits. The United States needs to look at which tax is fairer to the people and easier to administer by the government. Although some may disagree, the Flat Tax should replace the income tax to simplify and bring fairness to the system, increase income, and create jobs.

Taxes are the dollars that we pay to government to supply the services that are not or can not be provided through the free enterprise system. Taxes have been around since the beginning of organized societies. They come in various forms. Most common are income taxes both federal and local government. These taxes are assessed on the amount of income a person earns. Other taxes come in the form of user taxes; these taxes are imposed on the people that are using the goods being taxed, such as gas tax, alcohol tax, sales tax, and luxury taxes. Property taxes make up the major revenues for local and city governments. Furthering the burden of taxation are taxes that are attached to such bills as utility

In addition to economic issues, taxation is also a political issue. Political leaders formulate tax policies to bring reforms in the taxation system in order to promote their agendas. The major tax reforms include: increasing or decreasing the tax rate, imposing new taxes on certain products and changing the definition of taxable income. It is evident from the research studies that no one deliberately wants to pay taxes. U.S’ tax policy reflects expression of influence - i.e., those who have power are successful in paying low taxes and their burden is shifted to people who have no power. Therefore retired individuals, small business owners and farmers find ways efforts to reduce their tax burden. Since its existence, tax policy has been enormously used for promoting political and economic agendas.