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Biggest Reform EVER passed thread

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palmab03 said:
You need to have a pretty expensive house for it to go up for you. I thought you'd generally support plans that increase taxes on those with a pretty expensive house and decrease them for those without them.
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You said the biggest tax breaks were for the upper middle class. My house was $475 two years ago. In the Chicago suburbs this is not rich.
 
Why is their total income 51k higher in the 2nd calc?
 
I'm guessing that's for a graduate student including the tuition concession as taxable income.
 
jhmd2000 said:
How many times should the government tax the same dollar in the hands of its earner?
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At least once? Since 100 million plus estates are more than 50% comprised of unrealized capital gains. .
 
jhmd2000 said:
"instances of undeniable accessions to wealth, clearly realized, and over which the taxpayers have complete dominion."
Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426 (1955).

Well...what's the argument? That graduate tuition isn't an accession to wealth?
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Tuition concession is not wealth -- it remains unrealized. Graduate students never see that money.

Regardless, quoting case law doesn't absolve you of being a shithead.
 
jhmd2000 said:
It's really frustrating when somebody who doesn't know your situation accuses you of not paying your fair share.

What's that like?
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As far as I can tell, and I’ve been around here a while, you are the only poster who uses the term “fair share” in tax debates. Maybe BKF but he deosn’t really count because, you know, he’s an insane idiot.
 
jhmd2000 said:
Debt forgiveness is income on the same basis. It's an obligation you are released from.
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But that represents wealth over which you had complete dominion over at some point in the past. At some point you borrowed money and had the cash and that's why you have a debt. A scholarship is a non-cash benefit over which you really never had complete dominion over. You can utilize the service but that's pretty much it. Public policy concerns also suggest that we want to promote education and that taxing tuition benefits over people who are usually just starting out in life and have very little to no cash to pay the taxes is not very sound tax policy. That's why qualified scholarships are specifically excluded from income under the Internal Revenue code.
 
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Ran my own numbers. Trump's plan will save my partner and I about $6k a year initially. Once we buy a house, it will have virtually no impact on our taxes, but presumably will lower the purchase price (although I am not smart enough to know when or by how much).

That said, it isn't like $500 a month is really going to impact our quality of life or decision-making. Nor do I feel particularly overtaxed. So, yeah, whole bucket of meh for me on a personal level.

If / when we adopt though...
 
I didn't realize taxing tuition waivers was such a priority for conservatives. It's an obvious way to disincentivize pursuing higher degrees especially for people from low income backgrounds.

I wouldn't have been able to afford grad school under this plan. Makes sense for conservatives to push for it. There are few groups conservatives hate more than minority professors.
 
And they seem to have little interest in fact-based education. Or encouraging critical thinking amongst the population. Keep ‘em dumb, fearful, and gullible.

Yep, makes sense.
 
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