Tony K's Blog

There is a lot of talk from the republicans about how the tax cut on business will flow down to workers. Let's be clear about this though. The initial impact will be to increase profits to businesses. The tax shortfall has to be made up from somewhere else, either reduction in spending (mainly from programs for the poor), or from increases on others (aiming at blue state tax deductibility). Wages are set based on the local labor market. Any belief that a tax cut will result in higher labor rate is irrational. There is an argument that lower taxes will result in more investment, but this takes years, and may not actually happen. By the way, taxes on US businesses are among the lowest in the world already. Yes, the statutory rates are higher, but there are many deductions and dodges allowed. And ultimately, if we are to have programs that protect us and the poorest and least fortunate members of society, it has to be paid for. Ultimately, that means taxes. We all pay for it in ...

I wrote this in October of 2016. I had no idea how prescient it would be.   Trumps greedy long game - Trumps' heirs would receive at least $4 billion benefit at the expense of the US taxpayer   Donald's 1995 tax return was recently released. It's interesting that he had a tax loss of almost $1 billion in that year, but that, along with tax deductions, is business. Really nothing to see there. But it got me thinking.   The tax system is complex for businesses. One of the features is that it allows businesses to recognize depreciation of assets. Most governments do this in some form to encourage investment. If you invest $1,000 on an asset that is allowed to depreciate over 10 years, you can subtract $100 per year from your income each year for the next 10, until the tax value goes to zero. This reflects the value from a tax perspective, not the actual value.   If you then sell the asset for $50, you then owe taxes on $50 (sales value mi...

I see three concerns about voter "irregularities": vote fraud, obstruction at the polls, and disenfranchisement through manipulating laws and rules. Vote Fraud Hey, I'm from Chicago where "vote early and often" is more than a slogan, it's a career path. If you believe the mythology, this is mostly democrats. This is cheating, and it is illegal. It undermines our democracy by overrepresenting a point of view. It should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There is little evidence that this happens regularly at a large scale. The good news with this one is that everyone still has a voice; the bad news is that widespread abuse could dilute and overwhelm those voices and the process. Obstruction and Intimidation at the Polls This is bad. Trump's call to his followers to get out to the polls is troublesome. If they keep it under control and do not attempt to intimidate or obstruct, that's ok. I believe that there i...

The tax system is complex for businesses. One of the features is that it allows businesses to recognize depreciation of assets. Most governments do this in some form to encourage investment. If you spend $1,000 for an asset that is allowed to tax depreciate over 10 years, you can subtract $100 per year from your income each year for the next 10, until the tax value goes to zero. So you pay less in normal taxes at your tax rate. This reflects the value from a tax perspective, not the actual market value. To emphasize, virtually all governments allow this recovery of costs on an accelerated basis to encourage investment. If you then sell the asset for $50, you owe taxes on the $50 (sales value minus depreciated value of zero). Likewise, if you can get $1,200 for the asset, you would owe tax on the full $1,200. Equipment and machinery tend to go down in market value over time and with use, whereas historically, property appreciates. Even then, the gain is taxed at the lower ...

http://www.youtube-mp3.org/  seems to be out of order This one is working... https://www.youtube2mp3.cc/ Converting the sound from YouTubes into mp3s. Free!

I voted for Obama's re-election. He is not an evil Kenyan, Muslim, socialist. He is not a crazy spendthrift. Nor do I think he is the second coming. I believe he had some solid, very strategic victories in his first term that are and will be good for the country. Really if you look at what Obama actually did, he is pretty much in the same camp as some of those crazy herd-line right wingers like Goldwater, Nixon, Romney, and Reagan. I want to lay out my logic and reasoning for myself on why I think this was the right thing. It will be fun to look back 4 or 10 years from now at this. I also want to thank those whose views are different tlhan mine who have respectfully engaged around issues using facts and logic. The issues we face are not simple and are not solvable by sound bites and cynicism. There is tremendous depth of knowledge, thought, and understanding required. Romney I believe that if you separated Mitt Romney from the party system, he would be s...

Increase Taxes On The Rich - What that means There is a tremendous amount of innumeracy in this country. I don't know why that is. One thing I keep seeing is talk of tax hikes on those making more that $250k. I want to describe what that means. First, technically, it is an increase of tax rate on incremental (marginal) income above $250k. It's not simply raising the rates on everyone making more than $250k. It may have that effect, but the distinction is important. What is the distinction? Consider a person who makes $1.01 less than $250k. He or she will pay let's say $50k in income tax. If he makes $1 more, he will pay about $0.30 more taxes at a 30% income tax rate. Now let's say that the tax laws change so that income above $250k is taxed at 40% (up from 30%). It does not mean that suddenly his entire income is multiplied by 40%, it means that only the amount above $250k will be multiplied by 40%. So let's say our $249,999 earner gets a raise to $...