Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Greatness of the American System

So, Senator Harry Reid says that Mitt Romney paid 0 taxes for 10 years. He also commended Mitt's Daddy, George Romney, for his integrity and release of 12 years of his tax records when he ran for President.


The Romney Camp, while rushing to Mitt's defense, attack Sen. Reid for his praise of Mitt's Daddy? However, on the subject of Mitt's financial support of a country he loves so much he wants to be it's President, the Romney Camp roar of protest is just not there. It's there from his loyal supporters, those Conservatives, Republicans, Tea Party and Libertarian people who fail to understand that in life you PAY for what you receive. However, from anyone inside the actual Romney campaign, the tongues are silent.

Back in 2003, we filed our 2002 taxes taking an $1100 deduction that we thought we were entitled to. In April of 2004, the IRS audited us for that year. We wound up paying the $1100 plus another $1800 in penalties and late charges. The reason we thought it a legitimate deduction was because it was the Sales tax amount that would be owed in March of the following year. The IRS determined that any money left in the account at the end of the year was Profit. We now keep sales tax money in a different account with the words Sales Tax in the account name. In NYS Sales Tax is not income. The IRS doesn't agree if that money is in our business account.

In 2002 we paid somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand in income tax, and then paid another $2200, but we never grossed more than $80,000 that year. By the time the allowed deductions took place, our taxable income was less than $25,000. We own a small business which began to shrink once Bush became President. The Bush tax cuts allowed us to get back around $100 a year instead of paying more in, but our income dropped every year by as much as $10,000. We were hurt badly by the economic slide.

By rights, (the "rights" being I paid taxes which HURT) I should be absolutely livid at Mitt Romney for his tax evasion ways. Every single one of us who works hard to eke out a living and pay the taxes we owe should be livid. I don't think it's apathy that I'm not. As a matter of fact, I have a certain sense of pride about the fact that we did pay our taxes. When life has it's moments of struggle, the fact that you can actually scrape up enough to pay for something and on time has it's own rewards.

We didn't seek out a method to avoid paying our share for the programs our government runs to aid those less fortunate. We didn't look for a way to avoid paying for wars from which we were making a profit. We weren't the ones making that profit. We didn't put people out of jobs so we could have another shelter to be used to keep more of our income. We paid what we owed. And for that 1 year we actually paid more than we owed since Sales Tax isn't income. In that case we paid for a lesson learned.

Mitt Romney lives what most people call "The American Dream". In my estimation, even with the struggle life has become, so do I. I live in a way that allows me to pay my bills in full and on time. I don't have to hide anything. I can, with my head held high, say what I believe in this week and know that there is no record anywhere that I said I believed something else entirely 10 years ago. My honesty, my integrity is intact. It's not held hostage by my ambition.

We paid our taxes, and it wasn't easy. There were times when doing so created a hardship. That would not be the case with the potential Republican Candidate for President. However, he apparently thinks he owes this country and it's people nothing. He just wants to be President of a Great American System that he won't support with either his taxes or his integrity.







15 comments:

  1. See, right there you explained why you are not a success in the republican sense. I don't know how many shop owners I have heard say "if I pay taxes my accountant isn't doing his job". That is one of their primary goals, to not pay for what they enjoy. New bridge over the river - suckers pay for it, war to grab oil - dummies pay for that and fight in it. I suggest you buy a horse for $77,000 and take up riding as a cure for your illnesses and the accountant will take care of it.

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    1. See? There's a problem right there. We fired the accountant and started doing it ourselves. That way I know where the money went.

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  2. Sherry, we run a small (very) bidness here in TN and have to decide whether to charge the 10% sales tax on purchases made on-line for my photography or just pay it ourselves every quarter. Every year we struggle to keep the records as detailed as possible so our accountant can make the most accurate filing possible on our behalf... and every year I worry the Gestapo is going to descend on our heads like harpies.
    The tax code is written by and for the wealthy, and those of us who are just trying to stay above water are lucky if they aren't dumping more on our heads as we swim.
    Unfair doesn't begin to sum it up, and people like Mitt don't have a clue what the average middle class person or business owner goes through. They live on a different planet than the rest of us.

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    1. I have so many receipts for everything that I'm running out of room to live in my own home. And, because they don't have a room of their own, can't take a deduction for office expenses. *sigh*

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  3. On an unbelievably small retirement income taxes hurt - but we pay them - standard deduction.

    But I do have a gripe:

    (Even though I payed into Social Security for thirty years, I can only draw 50% Social Security benefits because I worked for an additional 15 years as a teacher in Alaska and earned a small Alaska State retirement. How fair is that - )
    the Ol'Buzzard

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    1. All public secotro employees with pensions have that problem. I know a woman who worked for the Post Office when it was a gov agency. She gets a whole $200 in SS. She paid into hers as well.

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    2. DAMN! The word is sector, not secotro. ROFLMAO

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  4. No doubt the tax code was written for the rich. Most of the major loopholes can't even be found by the average CPA. We found a CPA who has kept us from paying federal income taxes for several years now but that doesn't mean we don't pay taxes. There are thousands of taxes we pay everyday from state and local sales taxes right up front at the cash register, to hidden federal excise taxes and fees attached to every single service or financial transaction we engage in. I'm beginning to believe that federal income taxes have become a shill, designed to occupy all of your attention while the real cash is being sucked out of you a thousand different ways.

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    1. Tell me about it. There are so many other taxes we pay that are the normal cost of doing business in NYS. Permits and other fees like the amount we pay to drive our truck on NYS highways. We register the vehicle at a high enough fee you'd think that would cover it. Nope, we also have to pay a Highway Use Tax. You gotta love government, if you didn't, you'd shoot folks.

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  5. Oh, BTW, all of the aforementioned has nothing to do with Romney being a prick. He excels at it.

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  6. Sherry:

    The sad part is that it is quite possible under our current tax system that Romney ended up legally owning zero taxes.

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    1. He states very clearly that he "Paid what he legally owed". Which means he should have no problem producing his tax papers...right?

      Of course, maybe he owed 0 taxes because of his Cayman Island or Swiss accounts. Which, might mean he paid 0 taxes due to fraud?

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