Did you notice how the "tax reform" process went down?

[D_Master81]

When this whole debate started, it was all about making the tax system more simple. I remember Paul Ryan saying they want to make it so people could file on a post card and have fewer brackets. Side note, if you actually filed on just the lines you used, many people probably could currently file on a post card, but we file leaving many lines blank, side note rant over. Then after you get people softened up on the idea of "reform" it begins to move into the classic "trickle down" economics GOP BS. In the end the vote ended up being about reforming corporate taxes and taxes for the rich with a hidden vote to drill in ANWR and end Obamacare. All GOP goodies shoved into 1 bill tht started as making taxes "simpler to file".

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. It was never about any of that good shit. It boiled down to what they got and we don't even know

all of it yet.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. The Media softened the Landscape

for this to happen. Most who are Wonkies,saw this happening in slow motion and Ryan and McConnell had crafted special rules to pull it off. Once the filibusterer and the 60 vote rules were removed,there was no way to stop this from happening.

[FBaggins]

3. I don't think that's correct

Trump started off from the very beginning with a corporate tax cut all the way down to 15%... so if anything it's less "trickle down" then it started.

They've also significantly simplified the process for most people. The higher standard deduction (along with the comparatively small proportion of the population that has significant capital gain/ dividend income) means that a significant number of people will have a much easier time filing. If you had $18,000 in deductions last year, there's no need to keep receipts and mileage logs and justification for the value of the household items you donated (etc etc etc) since you're just going to take the standard deduction.

Now... none of that means that the bill was a good idea... but the lack of "fewer brackets" doesn't mean that it isn't simpler or change the fact that it was supposed to be more "trickle down" in the beginning than it ended up.

[unblock]

4. the whole "complexity/simplification" trope is idiotic.

the vast majority of people don't, as you correctly note, fact much of the complexity. moreover, when talking about complexity, they usually dwell on the oh-so complicated arithmetic needed to convert your adjusted gross income into your tax liability.

most people use a simply chart for that, or a calculator, or turbotax, or an accountant. it's not rocket surgery. it doesn't take 3 minutes. and changing the *number* of tax brackets doesn't make anything about it any simpler. 3 brackets or 300, the process is the same.

no, the complexity lies in determining what exactly is income, and what exactly are allowable deductions and such.

again, for the vast majority of people, this is all quite simple. for most people, what is income is quite straightforward. you worked, you got paid, congratulations, that's taxable income. and most people's deductions are similarly pretty straightforward. state and local taxes, mortgage interest, maybe enough un-reimbursed medical or employee or child care expenses.

mostly it's rich people and business people who have more complicated situations. you know, the part lobbyists put in for the benefit of rich people and business people.


but that's not the part of the code they ever talk about simplifying.

[politicaljunkie41910]

5. This is something that needs to be pursued because while they dropped the Corporate rates, they kept

all the loopholes that 'tax reform' was supposed to get rid of. Prior to this new tax bill, the Corporate Tax Rate was 39%, although the average rate corporations actually paid was about 18%. So now the Corp rate was dropped from 39% to 24% and the loopholes are still there, so they will still take the loopholes, (why would they not if they weren't closed) and they will apply the new rate and will end up paying a much lower rate probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 14%. (This is the rate one pundit predicted.)

We will now be in the territory that Warren Buffett warned us about where Corporations pay a lower rate then their secretary.