What is Taxes: Definition and 93 Discussions

A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures. A failure to pay, along with evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent. The first known taxation took place in Ancient Egypt around 3000–2800 BC.
Most countries have a tax system in place to pay for public, common, or agreed national needs and government functions. Some levy a flat percentage rate of taxation on personal annual income, but most scale taxes based on annual income amounts. Most countries charge a tax on an individual's income as well as on corporate income. Countries or subunits often also impose wealth taxes, inheritance taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, payroll taxes and/or tariffs.
In economic terms, taxation transfers wealth from households or businesses to the government. This has effects that can both increase and reduce economic growth and economic welfare. Consequently, taxation is a highly debated topic.

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  1. cronxeh

    News Income Tax Illegal: 16th Amendment Unratified, Refund?

    The 16th amendment was never ratified, so why should individual citizens who are not foreign business pay federal income tax? IRS can not demand anything- matter of fact, shouldn't you file to get a full refund??
  2. S

    News Do tax cuts pay for themselves?

    With the $100 billion a year for the Iraq/Afhgan wars, and now $60 billion for Katrina, we are going further and further into debt as a nation. I hear the argument all the time in support of Reagans 'voodoo economics', which this administration has embraced, that cutting taxes increases...
  3. S

    News Will Canada's Proposed Bike Tax Hurt Small Retailers and Cyclists?

    http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Canada/2005/08/31/1195345-sun.html
  4. Loren Booda

    Should NASCAR be taxed for wasting fuel?

    NASCAR is annoying enough, without the figure that over 5% of the nation's gasoline supply (a large percentage of what we are forced to import) is wasted on the non-sport of auto racing. It's time we taxed some sensibility into this American-antithetical conspicuous consumption.
  5. J

    News Why Does Romney Only Pay 15% Taxes?

    I'm not blaming him personally, so please don't take it that way. Most people are going to pay what they have to pay. What I blame is our tax code that allows for too many deductions. In 2010 Romney paid 13.9% taxes. In 2011 he expects to pay 15.4%...
  6. L

    News Will Republican tax reform plans hurt their chances in the 2012 election?

    Nice article in 'The Economist' on how Republican candidates are competing to race to the lowest point: http://www.economist.com/node/21534799 With a candidate Romney/Cain/Perry and all their lunatic tax reform proposals, I can not possibly imagine how the Republicans will beat Obama next...
  7. Ivan Seeking

    News In favor of increasing taxes on the wealthy

    I only know of two arguments against raising taxes on the wealty. The first is that higher taxes will reduce growth and investment. To that I say that not all taxes are the same. Credits and deductions providing incentives for investment do not exclude taxation on wealth that goes to lifestyle...
  8. russ_watters

    News What Are Payroll Tax Supported Programs to You?

    This thread is motivated by discussion of what taxes to include in an accounting of peoples' tax burden. The short background is that people on the left tend to want to include the payroll taxes and people on the right don't. The simplest/safest logic says that taxes are taxes and all should...
  9. J

    News Why is the tax code giving special treatment to corporate jets?

    Here is an excerpt from the President's June 29, press conference. http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/06/29/president-obama-our-economy-and-debt-limit-now-time-go-ahead-and-make-tough-choices" As I understand it, the tax code is thousands of pages long and is filled with special conditions...
  10. Pengwuino

    News California begins demanding on-line retailers collect CA sales tax

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amazon-california-20110702,0,1004958.story http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/07/01/amazon-breaks-with-thousands-of-small-firms/?mod=google_news_blog I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. Putting aside the obvious money grab by the state, there...
  11. P

    Are My Taxes Too High for My Summer Job?

    So I have a summer job doing research for a professor at my school and I'm paid by the hour. I live and work in New York State. I got my first check today, and a total of 16.5% of my check was taken by taxes. I paid: 9.12% in Federal Income Tax 1.45% in FICA Medicare Tax 4.61% in FICA SS...
  12. Ivan Seeking

    History US tax rate history - A return to the glory days

    When considering the best path to US solvency, it might be useful to consider the tax rates that helped to build this country. Back when Kennedy took office, the top marginal tax rate was 91%. Today, it is 35%. http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html It appears to me that...
  13. K

    Calculating income after taxes - how?

    Hello all! I am in a position where I am likely to be making quite a bit more money in the next year or two than I have previously. I would like to plan my finances around this and estimate me income after taxes. Is there an online calculator I can use to calculate such a thing? How can I...
  14. jtbell

    News Amazon SC Sales Tax Exemption Rejected: 1200 Jobs Lost

    The South Carolina House of Representatives yesterday rejected a bill which would have granted amazon.com an exemption from collecting SC sales tax on purchases from SC residents. In response, amazon.com has stopped construction of a new distribution center near Columbia which would have created...
  15. C

    News Is A Per-Mile Driving Tax In Our Future?

    http://blogs.forbes.com/tombarlow/2011/04/01/is-a-per-mile-driving-tax-in-our-future/ This sounds really intrusive to me. Yeah, I know the government can track you via your cellphone and all that and if they really want to find you, they will, but, having everyone's car literally tracked, the...
  16. C

    News Assuming Affordable Care Act Is Shot Down, Should There Be a Healthcare Hospital Tax?

    So I was discussing the issue of healthcare with a friend, and he pointed out something I hadn't thought of, but that I think makes sense---basically, he emphasized how Ronald Reagan signed legislation that made it where hospitals are mandated to treat a person if they are taken into the...
  17. Norman

    News How to make $5.1 Billion (US) and not pay federal taxes

    A story in the NYT explains how General Electric made 5.1 Billion USD profit last year, but did not pay a single dime in federal taxes. I wish I had millions of dollars to lobby congress to make special laws for me not to pay taxes. See the article here...
  18. Gokul43201

    News Federal Government Revenue: the Income Tax

    This thread is meant to re-examine current systems of revenue generation and, more importantly, explore the potential for alternatives out of which governments may provide citizens with the services that they are charged with providing. The thread is not meant to be restricted to solutions for...
  19. Greg Bernhardt

    News Wikileaks to expose tax evaders

    There is much debate over the diplomatic cables that were released, but I wonder if this is a different case? Wikileaks vows to expose tax evaders that hide money in swiss banks. Is this right? Perhaps access to the information is illegal, but it's no different than reporting a crime? If it...
  20. W

    Should taxes be utilized to modify behavior?

    A recent topic on a site focused on current policy discussions caught my attention. The discussion was centered on how tobacco is taxed. http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=20212 "Taxing Tobacco by Risk Cigarette taxes are meant to raise revenue and reduce smoking rates, yet...
  21. cobalt124

    News European Court Ruling on UK Taxation Laws

    I think the non-payment of tax is a separate issue. How many people are non-taxpayers? Of more concern to me (going off topic a second) is this, care of our friends in the European Court: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12022013
  22. Topher925

    News Obama compromises with the GOP for extending the tax cuts

    Obama "compromises" with the GOP for extending the tax cuts http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101207/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama I'm interested in what other peoples thoughts are on this. I see it has a unfortunate but smart move. In order to pass future legislation for the next 2 years this had to be...
  23. J

    How does the government tax different income levels in the USA?

    I was wondering why the governments impose so much tax on us, they tax us through every channel available from the food we eat to the very roads we travel on. Even that is not enough for them, they also tax our remaining income. Why do they impose so much tax? Other side question is about...
  24. jtbell

    News Should the Obama tax cut be extended?

    We have a poll about extending the Bush tax cuts, so I thought it might be interesting to have this one to go along with it. :smile: Your paycheck is about to shrink My wife and I must be among the few people who actually saw this "stealth tax cut" because we got an unanticipated refund for it.
  25. J

    News UAE and Kuwait have such a low tax revenue as percentage of GDP

    Why do countries like UAE and Kuwait have such a low tax revenue as percentage of GDP or tax to GDP ratio (don't know if these two are the same things or not)? I'm a total layman in these things, so please keep your reply straight and explanatory. Thanks a lot...
  26. A

    News Time to kill the Bush tax cuts

    We are now past the point where the Bush tax cuts are providing any benefit to the economy, and in fact we need the tax revenue and the cuts are a drag on the economy. I know everyone says that we need them as a stimulus and it would be foolish to take money out of the job creators hands...
  27. J

    News Should the Bush tax cuts be extended?

    In the midst of a recession, it is a poor idea to hike taxes, as that would be a gamble that this country should not have to take.
  28. J

    Giving a cut on re-importation tax imposed on the East India Company

    The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party of 1773—a protest by American colonists against various acts by the British Government which, among other things, attempted to establish a monopoly on the importation of tea into the colonies by giving a cut on re-importation tax...
  29. A

    Word problem - Buying houses and taxes?

    Homework Statement Miguel Tijera plans to rent one house and purchase another. He estimates that mortgage interest deductions on his federal income tax will be 25% of his mortgage payments. He wants to spend no more than $800 a month on rent and $2000 a month on rent and mortgage payments...
  30. turbo

    News Should all religions in the US be tax-exempt?

    Our nation was founded on the principle that state-sponsored religion was a form of tyranny. Lots of people emigrated to North America simply because of religious intolerance in Europe. Indeed, some people in the colonies had to move because of religious intolerance on this side of the...
  31. W

    News Should foreign companies pay taxes?

    Recently Republicans defeated a bill that would have helped the heroes of 9/11. Why? Because it had an amendment in it that said that the help would be paid for by eliminating a tax loop hole for foreign corporations that do business in the US. Many foreign companies incorporate in tax haven...
  32. B

    Tax cuts to end fiscal stimulus: a fallacious opposition?

    I was reading the post about fallacious contradictions such as reality being an illusion or truth being non-existent and the one that came to mind was the idea that tax cuts are a way to end fiscal stimulus by government spending. Maybe from a tax-payer's point of view, they are simply...
  33. A

    MHB View Attachment: A Guide to Understanding Taxes

    Please view attachment!
  34. C

    Macroeconomics: Overlapping Generation model and lump-sum taxes

    Homework Statement Suppose an individual born at time $t$ maximizes life-time utility \begin{equation*} \max \ln(c_{1,t}) + \frac{1}{1+\rho}\ln(c_{2,t+1}), \; \rho>0 \end{equation*} subject to the budget constraints in periods t and t+1, respectively \begin{eqnarray} c_{1,t} +...
  35. K

    Allowances/Withholdings in regard to taxes

    Hello all, and forgive my amateur financial knowledge. I suppose that mathematically, the best way to do your taxes is to have as little withheld from your paycheck as possible, and to pay it all in at the end. This way you can potentially make (typically low-risk) investments with the money...
  36. T

    What does a company do if taxes are raised?

    If taxes are raised on a specific sector, what does a company on that sector does? For example, the company is getting a liquid profit of $1.000.000 a year, and the tax on profits is 30%. $300.000 goes to taxes. Now the tax is raised to 50%, and the company has just lost $200.000 per year. How...
  37. russ_watters

    News Stipulated: Payroll Taxes are Normal Taxes Now what?

    Stipulated: Payroll Taxes are "Normal" Taxes... Now what? Ok, so let's assume for a minute I accept that all types of taxes should be treated equally when calculating the tax burden and progressive/regressive distribution. Now what? Liberals use the argument (by all means, correct me if I...
  38. B

    How much money will he have after taxes if he withdraws all the money from the account?

    Homework Statement Carlos is 60 years old, is in the 32% marginal tax bracket, and has $544,000 in his Roth IRA. How much money will he have after taxes if he withdraws all the money from the account? Homework Equations (1-tax bracket)x(amount)=earnings after income tax The Attempt at...
  39. G

    Have you filed your taxes yet?

    Heh, so i just filed my taxes today. I'm rather proud. I was talking to some people who're in their 20's and its their first time doing them by themselves. My dad insisted that i do my own... so i did. At first i was really confused, but then it wasn't actually so bad. I did the telefile...
  40. Pengwuino

    Is the Capital Gains Tax System Unfair for Average Americans?

    Does anyone else think that capital gains taxes for the average person is rather unfair? My family currently has about $50,000 in debt. We could sell a rental we own for a profit of $80,000. Sounds great right? Well... of course... the government comes in and takes a HUGE slice (reduced to...
  41. N

    News Is the concept of fairness irrelevant in taxation?

    I contend that there is no fairness in taxation. I'm not saying that taxes are unfair. On the contrary, I am saying fairness does not enter into the matter. There is a theory that all wealth is fortuitous, or "lucky". There is the extreme case of the people who win the lottery, or inherit...
  42. Z

    News Is Cutting All Government Programs the Solution for a Better America?

    No More Taxes! ...and no more military, police, fire departments, public schools, road construction. No more damned government bureucracies making sure that companies don't dump arsenic in your drinking water. We can dispense with free immunizations for children, because if their parents can't...
  43. enigma

    Taxes Done - 9 Hours to Spare!

    W00t! Finished em! With 9 hours to spare this year! -Never put off for tomorrow what you can put off for day after tomorrow, I always say.
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