American Tax Inequities and Complexities

[amadeus]

You can always give up your citizenship and you won't have to file again.

If I was a subject of another industrialized country, I would not be under the thumb of this ultimatum.

re everything else: yes I've filed 2555s before, no I've never owed anything.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Green card holders (legal resident) have to file and pay taxes, just like citizens. Since money is earned in US and she lives here, it's taxed the same as anyone else.

What if they do not have a green card but are working under some visa or other program?

 

[Bamspeedy]

What if they do not have a green card but are working under some visa or other program?

Depends if the IRS considers you a 'tax resident'. Google 'need to pay taxes' I get wide range of answers as there are paying payroll taxes vs the need to actually file a 1040.

May depend on visa type, if your home country has tax treaty with US (to avoid double taxation situations), and some industries have different rules than others (a professional athlete competing in one or few events is an entirely different situation than an agricultural worker). Depending on situation and state, might have to file state income tax return as well.

 

[9gkj548hkm20vk79dj689bnj4]

I would offer a flat tax for the sake of simplicity, but the me, this is all beside the point: so long as spending rises the government has to get more and more creative about how it intends to obtain the money. Which is why you see ridiculous notions like "value added tax" and "wealth tax" (technically un-constitutional in the US, I would say, as most direct taxes are) being floated from time to time.

 

[El_Machinae]

Both value added tax and wealth tax are useful, because sometimes the best type of tax is a tax on profits.

But sometimes you just need a wealth tax in order to prevent the system from destabilizing from rigging.

You wouldn't play chess with someone who refused to give up the pieces they had kept the last game. It wouldn't be fun. We have people in oncoming Generations that have realized that they are playing chess with someone who inherited a queen and two rooks from the last game. Chess only works with a 100% wealth tax