Taxes, Taxes, Taxes: Who Really Pays The Most?

Written by David Berky


Continued from page 1

Some politicians and local activists were anxious to punishrepparttar "gouging landlords" and "rental robber-barons". They figured that they could play Robin Hood and redistribute some ofrepparttar 112693 rich landlord's profits torepparttar 112694 "needy".

Now my friend's costs have gone up. So what did he do? Naturally, he raisedrepparttar 112695 rents to coverrepparttar 112696 cost ofrepparttar 112697 additional tax. And since it is easier to accept a reasonable rent increase than to move, his tenants stayed put and paid more.

Ironically, most of his tenants arerepparttar 112698 same people whorepparttar 112699 politicians and activists considerrepparttar 112700 "needy". So nowrepparttar 112701 government takes an extra $20 a month out of their pockets throughrepparttar 112702 "tax onrepparttar 112703 landlord".

Ifrepparttar 112704 tenant is on an assistance program they may get some of this money back. Of courserepparttar 112705 amount they get back will be reduced by expenses and administrative costs forrepparttar 112706 government to collect, control and distributerepparttar 112707 money.

So who really paid for this tax? The landlord? No, inrepparttar 112708 end it is always people - you and me.

All taxes are paid byrepparttar 112709 citizens themselves, regardless of whether they are paid directly, as in sales and income taxes, or through increased prices of products and services, or through "fees" imposed by governing agencies. How does your car registration "fee" differ from a tax?

Not only does each citizen directly or indirectly pay every penny of tax money that is collected in this country, but most people's perception thatrepparttar 112710 "rich" and "corporations" don't pay their "fair-share" is accurate.

These people and businesses can afford to pay an attorney $10,000 to show them how to save $500,000 in taxes. Most likely, you can't. The tax laws are made with loopholes forrepparttar 112711 "rich" and for certain businesses.

Part of this is because it is these people who own or controlrepparttar 112712 majority ofrepparttar 112713 property in this country. And no progress can be made with out a significant investment of capital. If these people and businesses are givenrepparttar 112714 right reasons to invest their capital (such as tax breaks)repparttar 112715 economy will continue to function and grow.

If they are overburdened with taxes they will either move to Bermuda or start a cycle of inflation by raising prices. Either way, you, Joe Citizen, will end up paying more either directly inrepparttar 112716 form of taxes or indirectly as your cost of living increases.

It is a double-edged sword. Joe Citizen wants "rich people" and businesses to pay their fair share (though Joe does not realize that he ends up paying it anyway) butrepparttar 112717 government knows that they can't killrepparttar 112718 golden goose (andrepparttar 112719 economy needs a good "goose" every once in a while).

So tax laws and regulations are passed which seem to targetrepparttar 112720 "rich people" and businesses but with enough loopholes so that no real tax increase occurs. Andrepparttar 112721 politicians can blamerepparttar 112722 other party forrepparttar 112723 loopholes. But both know this is business as usual.

Make Joe Citizen feel good about paying his taxes by raising taxes onrepparttar 112724 "rich" and "wealthy corporations", but give them loopholes so that little more is accomplished than adding another volume added torepparttar 112725 tax code.

And Joe Citizen continues to pay his taxes each year.

© Simple Joe, Inc. David Berky is president of Simple Joe, Inc. One of Simple Joe's best selling products is Simple Joe's Money Tools - a collection of 14 personal finance and investment calculators. This article may be freely distributed so long as the copyright, author's information and an active link (where possible) are included.


Cash Advance Loans: Loan Sharks In Disguise?

Written by David Berky


Continued from page 1

Maybe you should be loaning your money to them rather than borrowing from them.

What To Watch Out For

* Early repayment fees. Pay off your loan early and they sock you with another fee. * Late repayment fees. You may have to payrepparttar entire fee again if you missrepparttar 112692 payment date. * "Membership" fees. Some companies charge you to become their customer along with charging you as their customer. * Giving lenders access to directly debit your bank account. Just hand them your wallet, it's quicker. * Fine print (as in all contracts). Know what you are signing or don't sign it. * Bounced check or debit fees. Make sure you have money in your bank account or you get to pay your bank a fee as well. * "Collateral" requirements such as a car title. Miss your payment and you may be missing your car - permanently.

There Is A Better Way

The root problem here could be that you are getting strangled by your debt payments. Credit cards, store accounts, installment payments and such can eat up your income quickly. Ite may be time to visit a non-profit credit counseling service or create a debt reduction plan for yourself.

Or it could be that you are just spending more than you make. You may need to spend a few minutes each week and write down your expenses. Then categorize and total them to see where your money is going. Then record your income forrepparttar 112693 same time period and make sure that you are not spending more than you make.

Sure, everyone gets behind occasionally. But you need enough room in your budget (this means spending less than what you make) to accommodaterepparttar 112694 "budget busters" and surprise expenses that may come up. It may mean cutting back on cable, magazine subscriptions or eating out. But last time I checked, McDonalds did not charge a $15 "fee" for making your food.

© Simple Joe, Inc. David Berky is president of Simple Joe, Inc. which sells the Simple Joe's Debt Eraser PC software. Debt Eraser can help anyone get out of debt quickly and inexpensively by creating a Rapid Debt Reduction Plan. This article may be freely distributed as long as the copyright, author's information and an active link (where possible) are included.


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