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12-14-2009, 02:10 PM | #1 |
Elitist
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So the fact that the rich pay the majority of taxes proves there isn't any cheating going on?
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12-14-2009, 02:38 PM | #2 |
giggity
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12-14-2009, 03:34 PM | #3 | ||
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If you do feel the need to choose, a rich person potentially could have cheated for more, but it will be much more difficult, time consuming, and expensive to identify. If it is actually identified, rather than just pay the penalty, the rich person is much more likely to fight the charges. This brings the chances of a conviction down and drives the cost to convict and collect up. |
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12-14-2009, 02:47 PM | #4 |
Serious Business
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I bet a kazzilion dollars that more middle class people cheat on their taxes than rich people.
I bet another kazillion that more poor people cheat on their taxes than rich people. |
12-14-2009, 03:06 PM | #5 | |
Elitist
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Difficult exercise, congratulations But I would think that the PERCENTAGE who cheat would be more relevant, if you are trying to compare honesty levels. Getting back to the subject, if you were the IRS, and the President told you to do a better job cracking down on tax evasion, who would you spend more time investigating, a middle-class tax evader, whose tax evasion only amounts to a few hundred or thousand dollars, or a rich person who you suspect has cheated in the millions? Last edited by Homeslice; 12-14-2009 at 03:09 PM.. |
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12-14-2009, 03:08 PM | #6 |
My balls, your chin
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Single mothers in Seattle who are obviously liars....
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12-14-2009, 03:10 PM | #7 | |
giggity
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12-14-2009, 07:30 PM | #8 | |
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The real problem of going after middle class tax cheats (who probably all put together cost the government more money) is the loss of political capital. Going after a huge gigantic voting block will assure President Obama will be flipping burgers in 2012.
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12-14-2009, 04:23 PM | #9 |
Elitist
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"Equal protection under the law" is valid only as it relates to your rights after you're caught.......not as it relates to who the government chooses to investigate/snoop on. For example, the FBI and NSA don't eavesdrop on everyone equally.....They snoop on people who fit some kind of profile (are tied to a certain political group, make large bank transfers, make calls to certain countries, browse certain websites, etc.). And the TSA doesn't yank everyone out of the line for a pat-down.......They make their choice based on strange or nervous behavior. I guess perpetually nervous/furtive people could sue the TSA charging discrimination, that but I don't think that would get very far
Last edited by Homeslice; 12-14-2009 at 04:32 PM.. |
12-14-2009, 05:43 PM | #10 | |
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The entire issue with "profiling" and the reason why the government doesn't do it at TSA, resulting in a ton of jokes and complaints, is due to equal protection. Equal protection has quite a lot to do with who and how decisions are made by government agents when choosing who to give any kind of extra scrutiny. "Strange or nervous behavior" qualifies as probable cause and an acceptable reason. You are suggesting the IRS investigate the rich simply because they are rich. This would be the equivalent of TSA pulling anyone out of line that looks middle eastern. What probable cause would there be with the rich? They make a lot of money so they must be cheating on their taxes? Concerning the NSA, for activities outside America, it is irrelevant. The people they are eavesdropping on do not have the protection of the Constitution, so there is no equal protection issue. The FBI is different. They do snoop on people who fit a certain "profile". The "profile" is the ability of agents to demonstrate, to a judge, that probable cause exists to eavesdrop on them. |
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