Posted on Nov 9, 2021
Op-Ed: Setting the record straight about what Biden's proposed social programs would do
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Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 3
The economist know what they are talking about... We have the biggest economy in the world, once we get on a smooth flow of taking in the amount of taxes we should be taking in, we will be able to run the country in such a was as to prevent crime, and to give kids opportunity, but this will take years to put into place.... Like the article says, all people here is 3.5 trillion dollars.... there is so much more to it....
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Maj John Bell
PFC David Foster - "NO WRITE OFFS?" I'm not a tax expert, but I believe the cost of materials, labor and fees (local and professional) are considered "write offs" or deductions. That's why we're taxed on adjusted gross income and not taxed on gross income.
I also presume your scale is a progressive tax scale.
If that is so, I present the following hypothetical:
Builders normally operate on a net profit of 15%-20% before income tax
If a build one house in tax year and the total costs purchase of the land, fees, materials and labor come to $1,000,000 and I sell it for $1,200,000. Then my tax liability is $173,500. Add that to my costs of $1,000,000 and I get $26,500 for my years worth of labor.
Currently medical expenses are a tax write off, but not under your plan. Now let's say my spouse has a medical problem and I'm insured in a low cost, high deductible health insurance plan available through Obamacare (because with a total income of $26,500, I can't afford anything better) If we have a catastrophic medical problem, I'm still $12,700 out of pocket. So I own a business with all the risks that entails that had $1,200,000 in revenue and me, my sick wife and three kids kids are homeless and hungry. Did I miss or misunderstand something?
Or a house that I would have normally sold for $1,200,000 I must sell for around $1,800,000 to get about the same $200,000 I would have made. Your tax plan just bumped the cost of housing in America by 40%-50%.
I also presume your scale is a progressive tax scale.
If that is so, I present the following hypothetical:
Builders normally operate on a net profit of 15%-20% before income tax
If a build one house in tax year and the total costs purchase of the land, fees, materials and labor come to $1,000,000 and I sell it for $1,200,000. Then my tax liability is $173,500. Add that to my costs of $1,000,000 and I get $26,500 for my years worth of labor.
Currently medical expenses are a tax write off, but not under your plan. Now let's say my spouse has a medical problem and I'm insured in a low cost, high deductible health insurance plan available through Obamacare (because with a total income of $26,500, I can't afford anything better) If we have a catastrophic medical problem, I'm still $12,700 out of pocket. So I own a business with all the risks that entails that had $1,200,000 in revenue and me, my sick wife and three kids kids are homeless and hungry. Did I miss or misunderstand something?
Or a house that I would have normally sold for $1,200,000 I must sell for around $1,800,000 to get about the same $200,000 I would have made. Your tax plan just bumped the cost of housing in America by 40%-50%.
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PFC David Foster
Maj John Bell - Of course you write off expenses... I mean no loophole write offs.
Medical bills suck, we wouldn't have that problem if we had government run healthcare...
The tax rates I gave you are 18% lower than they are now for the high income bracket...
Your profit margin should be much higher building a new house.... and you only figure tax on the income, not the expenses.... if he made 200,000 profit on the house, and that was his only income for the year his tax rate would be 12% or 24,000 tax on 200,000 profit...
drop all the things like depreciation, reinvestment write offs, but keep money out of pocket expenses..... it would be so much less complicated...
Medical bills suck, we wouldn't have that problem if we had government run healthcare...
The tax rates I gave you are 18% lower than they are now for the high income bracket...
Your profit margin should be much higher building a new house.... and you only figure tax on the income, not the expenses.... if he made 200,000 profit on the house, and that was his only income for the year his tax rate would be 12% or 24,000 tax on 200,000 profit...
drop all the things like depreciation, reinvestment write offs, but keep money out of pocket expenses..... it would be so much less complicated...
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Maj John Bell
PFC David Foster - I took you for your word when you typed "NO WRITE OFFS" That's why I was surprised and repeated your words. Can you give me some examples of what you consider to be " loophole" write offs? They need not be builder related. Until I accurately understand what you are offering, I can't evaluate it.
As far as the accuracy of my gross profit margin range on new construction, I offer the following. If you have a source you consider more accurate, please share it.
https://www.cohesivehomes.com/how-much-profit-does-a-builder-make-on-a-new-construction-home
I don't know if you've ever run a business. Most people have not. Those who have never run a business have very little idea what thin gross profit margins companies run on and why they (management) are ALWAYS trying to drive fixed overhead, variable costs and non-productive labor.
We might not have the problems of medical bills, however there are an entirely different set of problems with government healthcare.
_Ask yourself why so many Canadians forego free definitive critical care and instead come to the US and pay for that treatment.
_Ask yourself if you have full faith and confidence in the VA healthcare system, particularly if it was expanded to cover 100% of US citizens, legal resident aliens, illegal resident aliens and illegal immigrants?
_Ask yourself if you are confident that medicare/medicaid are administered relatively free of fraud. (OMB estimates that the overall rate of fraudulent payments is between 10%-11%, and that for some specific programs fraudulent payment exceeds 27%)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-08-03/canadians-increasingly-come-to-us-for-health-care
As far as the accuracy of my gross profit margin range on new construction, I offer the following. If you have a source you consider more accurate, please share it.
https://www.cohesivehomes.com/how-much-profit-does-a-builder-make-on-a-new-construction-home
I don't know if you've ever run a business. Most people have not. Those who have never run a business have very little idea what thin gross profit margins companies run on and why they (management) are ALWAYS trying to drive fixed overhead, variable costs and non-productive labor.
We might not have the problems of medical bills, however there are an entirely different set of problems with government healthcare.
_Ask yourself why so many Canadians forego free definitive critical care and instead come to the US and pay for that treatment.
_Ask yourself if you have full faith and confidence in the VA healthcare system, particularly if it was expanded to cover 100% of US citizens, legal resident aliens, illegal resident aliens and illegal immigrants?
_Ask yourself if you are confident that medicare/medicaid are administered relatively free of fraud. (OMB estimates that the overall rate of fraudulent payments is between 10%-11%, and that for some specific programs fraudulent payment exceeds 27%)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-08-03/canadians-increasingly-come-to-us-for-health-care
How Much Profit Does a Builder Make on a New Home?
If you are wondering what the gross and net profit margin a builder keeps for themselves is, here is a detailed overview of the same.
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PFC David Foster
Maj John Bell - I already gave you examples.... anything that is not an out of pocket expense... like deprecation, you know how businesses are, they depreciate everything from real estate to cars, to lawn mowers.... it complicates book keeping. Use simple cash in cash out accounting... I forgot what you call that.... I know it has a name, but I studied accounting over 40 years ago.
I've had 7 small businesses... Outside of being in the army for two years, I only worked for somebody else for about 2 years of my life. Use simple accounting in all businesses.... To make it even simpler, since there is no longer a social security account held by the government.... let the taxes I stated earlier be all the taxes for the state and federal government....
Let the states get their funds from Real Estate and sales tax
How ever it should be done... even if you want to scrap all the numbers I came up with earlier that the richer paid a little bigger percentage, and go with a straight 15% flat tax... the idea is to simplify it so big companies can reinvest multibillions and pay no taxes... The taxable profit is the difference in how much it cost to operate your business for a month and how much money your business takes in per month. Just get rid of the whole complexity of the system that creates the need for an army of lawyers to figure out how to beat the system....
I realize what a complex system this is, even without the extra complexities.... but I truly think that would be a good start, to simplify the system...
I've had 7 small businesses... Outside of being in the army for two years, I only worked for somebody else for about 2 years of my life. Use simple accounting in all businesses.... To make it even simpler, since there is no longer a social security account held by the government.... let the taxes I stated earlier be all the taxes for the state and federal government....
Let the states get their funds from Real Estate and sales tax
How ever it should be done... even if you want to scrap all the numbers I came up with earlier that the richer paid a little bigger percentage, and go with a straight 15% flat tax... the idea is to simplify it so big companies can reinvest multibillions and pay no taxes... The taxable profit is the difference in how much it cost to operate your business for a month and how much money your business takes in per month. Just get rid of the whole complexity of the system that creates the need for an army of lawyers to figure out how to beat the system....
I realize what a complex system this is, even without the extra complexities.... but I truly think that would be a good start, to simplify the system...
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They may do as we do in TN, free Pre-K and free two years at state funded college. Also, periodic free medical/Dental events. Pay for your own friggin people’s needs!
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