Tis the season when stress-ladened weeks go into telling the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) how much money we made so the government can take its slice. In Copiosis no one pays taxes, but in this world a lot of time and money ensures the government gets enough of what you make.
This strange world where money ties you to earning a living, which in turn ties several weeks of your time to the IRS every spring, an even stranger thing happens…
The last president caused a stir throughout his administration by withholding his tax returns. Only Trump, his accountants and lawyers really know why. Some say it’s because he paid hardly any taxes. Others think his returns will show how bad a businessperson he is.
Speaking of business, Democrats, particularly Bernie Sanders, used non-tax-paying corporations as their personal whipping boys, claiming, rightly so, that corporations like Amazon and others should pay some taxes if not more than what they pay today, which, in some cases, is zero.
But is this really “rightly so”?
Maybe those who agree with Bernie wax hypocritically when they critique Amazon, rich people and their intent to reduce their tax burdens.
A lot of Americans prepare their taxes specifically intending to pay as little tax as possible. Trump made this clear many times, even though his true statements fell on deaf ears.
When I made six figures, for example, I employed two accountants, not at the same time. Both of them excelled at reducing my tax burden.
Every year I watched amazed as they employed every possible tactic so I paid…not my fair share, but the minimum amount of taxes possible. And all they did was, and still is, legal.
It’s a strange world we live in where everyone is probably doing their best, taking advantage of every tax credit and deduction to minimize their tax. At the same time, these same people complain about others who do what they’re doing, only better.
The thing is, nobody need pay taxes. Instead of complaining about companies and people paying no taxes or not enough, feeling righteous indignation in the fact that we’re right and they’re wrong, let’s just eliminate taxes for everyone.
That can’t be done in the strange world we live in today. But it will be in the world we’re creating at Copiosis.