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Apparently Karol never worked at a CPA firm during tax season, or does she have a clue about taxation.
She has her facts wrong.
The Middle class pays most of the taxes because every dollar they earn is mandatorily withheld.

The rich pay the least, because they can afford to hire Tax Experts and Big CPA firms to find loopholes and Write Private Letter Rulings to reduce or even exempt their taxes. Their taxes are not withheld, but estimated. A big difference!

Stop complaining; you get what you vote for, start voting third party:fourth party; any party that is neither Republican or Democrate. The deck is stacked with either party in power,stop voting lock step with these parties.There are plenty of good people to vote for even if they can't have millions of dollars in their campaign chest.

Brian Lehrer,

To ask why are so many prominent people are getting tripped up is an extremely naive question.

These nominees did not get tripped up. They were all trying to pull a fast one becuase they all felt a tremendous sense of entitlement ("Taxes? We don't need to pay no stinking taxes") These nominees were morally bankrupt. Don't try give me the innocent babe in the woods excuse.

erin & zach
well are we just going to let the boommers get away with stealing our money?

I agree with Zack - I'm 29, and I've heard ever since the 1990's that Social Security will be completely gone by the time I retire.

Although I struggle to pay my taxes properly, I consider Social Security a dead loss.

longstreet
government serves the corporations. it's their will that will be done.

Go read up on Samuel Adams, my friends.
The Stamp act, tea tax, etc. are where taxation without representation derive. And the taxes being paid then are a far cry from what is viewed as "acceptable" today. Fuedal serfs paid less in "taxation." You can look it up.
All of the Dems and most of the GOP are the modern day equivalent of the Tories from the 1760's. They're loyal above all else to DC and not to citizens. Hence my view that normal people are viewed as little more than economic units that keep the party going in DC.

#34 I said "baby-sitter" ??

chris
income Meaning "money made through business or labor" first recorded 1601. Income tax is from 1799, first introduced in Britain as a war tax, re-introduced 1842;

please explain Philander Knox propaganda never heard this one

to hjs from 11211
That Amendment was not ratified. Philander Knox fraudulently certified it. Also, "income" at that time meant corporate profit. It was only after 1914 that they tried to change the definition to include wages.
Taxes and representation were an irritant, but the colonists didn't start shooting till the Brits tried to take their guns. The revolution was about gun control.

chris
it might be immoral to pay for things we use or to invest in our nation but until the 16th amendment is repealed it's not unconstitutional

longstreet
the revolt was about the lack of representation (or so the myth says) really it was cause london would not let us settle west of the line of proclamation. guess they saw urban sprawl coming

The big crime of these tax-and-spend Democrat tax-evaders is hypocrisy.
As a Libertarian, who believes the income tax is immoral and unconstitutional, my hypocrisy is in paying my taxes, instead of joining Henry David Thoreau in prison, where I could not fight other battles against other tyrannies.
So, if an error in my return were found, I could use the occasion to criticize the excess, complication, and misuse of the tax system.
I need not prove a claim to being a superior servant of our evil tax system.

Also, Joe out of Work--Babysitter is now the term preferred instead of "nanny" among many people. Sometimes we say "full-time babysitter"! I don't know why!

Also, Joe out of Work--Babysitter is now the term preferred instead of "nanny" among many people. Sometimes we say "full-time babysitter"! I don't know why!

zack
if u accept there is not going to be SS when u need it, then your right it won't be there. but if u fight for it everyday it will be there. don't left the GOP fool u into thinking it can't be there. it's all about setting priorities.

Zach: I'm 36 and having been kissing tens of thousands goodbye for years now. Sadly, regular people are viewed as little more than economic units by the political class.
It's ironic that a country that got it's start revolting against excessive taxation has come full circle and enslaved itself yet again.

Also, I know I have completely exceeded my allotment of comments on this show, but I wanted to point out that most of the paperwork burden is because of NYS requirements. The quarterly reports, workers' compensation, unemployement insurance, etc. -- all of those are state filings. They are also the very same forms you need to file if you are running a business, which is crazy.

This would be a simple problem for NYS to tackle if it wanted to.

Oh please: anyone with a nanny knows that you have to pay taxes. This has come up again and again with politicians who get tagged. Shame on them. And as one of the guests said: if you tell your tax preparer they'll include things. This is a case of knowing, not telling and hoping they don't get caught.

also:if you're a baby-sitter, chances are you're looking for extra income and just using the money to pay for little things along the way.

I have a question for anyone with an answer: a friend of a friend has worked for years as a freelancer/independent contractor, and didn't pay taxes on years of income. He didn't pay because it wasn't taken out of his checks and he claims now that he shouldn't have to because income taxes are illegal!

I'm thinking, "COME ON!"

Apparently there are many people who feel this way! and that it may be illegal.

anyone know..?

longstreet
OK

To answer Brian's assertion, I am 22 years old and the only person my age I know filing taxes, simply because I have a payroll job that makes it easy. All of my friends take odd jobs and are paid in cash. It isn't really that sad that they aren't "protecting their future" by paying into Social Security. It is very clear that no one my age will receive the benefits of Social Security. Every two weeks I say goodbye to the money taken from my paycheck for Social Security. That money is going to pay the Social Security of Retired people TODAY, not in the nebulous future. We will get nothing.

ended with a zinger..

THE TAX CODE IS VOLUMINOUS, AND IT WOULD JUST BE TOO DIFFICULT TO SIMPLIFY....

Boy! maybe if you got interesting guests instead of tax industry shills this conversation could have got interesting!

its called the FLAT TAX.
discuss.

Social Security is a nightmare. Some years ago, I incorporated as a small business -- I was the only employee -- and the SS paper work was insane. Why aren't baby sitters, nannies, cleaning help independent contractors. When I freelanced, I was paid by my clients who gave me a 1099. I then had to pay my own taxes and SS. Why don't these people do the same? It's obvious -- they don't want to pay.

does the guest know nanny's mostly are not legally employable in this country?

It's called humor, hjs.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. NYS does not require withholding if you pay the employee's portion of the SS payments, which we do. That is the common arrangement among the very few people who pay babysitters on the books--we pay their portion of as well. It is quite expensive to pay on the books and your babysitter can wind up with less after tax income. Plus they need a green card or be a US citizen. No wonder so few people do it.

Simplifying the laws and increasing the penalties for noncompliance would be an easy way for NYS to generate more revenues from domestic employee taxes.

I am here legally with work authorization and I AM NOT eligible to collect unemployment, social security, etc. even though I pay into it.

I can see why people do not want to pay into something they will not be able to collect upon.

i never thought i'd miss steve forbes.

My lovely house cleaner is an illegal immigrant and I am happy to hire her, even though I know it's illegal...

longstreet
why not?

Several thoughts:
1. Daschle didn't get caught by the IRS -- if he hadn't been up for a high government position, is it likely he would ever have been found out on the non-payment of taxes for the car and driver?
2. The IRS admits that even if a taxpayer calls their help line the advice given is not guaranteed to be correct. I believe that if audited at taxpayer couldn't point to IRS advice as an excuse. So what is a taxpayer to do?
3. I agree that everyone should pay their taxes properly. But once again you're playing to middle class fears while our major companies routinely pay a little tax as possible. What I'd like to see is not how much a corporation pays in taxes -- but how much they avoid through loop holes and accounting sleight of hand.

I'm not sure you're striking the right tone here. I believe most 'taxpayers' intentionally lie about cash income, nannies, etc., or hire an accountant to help them obscure the truth. So pretending that people "don't know" makes your guests seem insincere.

Last year my wife and I filed jointly and with a number of deductions ended up paying about $90 too little to qualify for a $600 rebate. So we saved $90 and lost out on $600. With the stimulus, etc. will there be similar rebates and how can we be careful to avoid a similar mistake?

We recently got married and payed many vendors tens of thousands of dollars. Are we required to report the caterer as an employee? What about our gardener who gets paid much less per year than we paid our caterer? Where is the line drawn?

Also, in another vein - many folks gave us a 10% discount if we payed in cash, probably because they didn't want to report it. Are we somehow responsible for that?

Please!!!! Give me a break!!!

I'm sorry, but I think Obama's choices are showing that he is a business as usual politician, just a little less than the last administration. This tax issue goes back to IRS directives since the Reagan administration where the spotlight has been put on the average tax payer and taken off the wealthiest of our nation.

Is there an effort to reform the tax rules and tax forms to make it easier to report taxes or income related to household and freelance help? - This should become standard to make it easier to report this.
Based on the 3 recent incidents it seems that these 'special' situations have become very common as our society becomes more like a 3rd World country where you a greater disparity between the wealthy and the poor and you have a growing underground economy of freelancers and poor people serving as maids, nannies, cleaners, drivers, cooks, etc.

Maybe if enough congresspeople and political appointees lose their jobs over this, congress will wake up and realize that the US Tax Code is entire too complex. When the average citizen requires computer software or CPAs to do his/her taxes -- and still isn't sure if they're correct -- then something is wrong.

Mr. Daschle was described as working "freelance." For the vast amount he was being paid, he sounds a lot more like an employee.

Whatever we do, don't simplify the tax code!

These people are very smart. It is the year 2009. They know exactly what they are doing, and are gambling that they will not be caught!

only little people pay taxes.
they only mistake these people made was applying for a government job.

I am the only person I know who pays my babysitter on the books. It is a HUGE hassle in terms of paperwork and the laws could be overhauled to make it easier for small household employers.

Also, to correct your guest you do not need to withhold from domestic help unless they ask you to.

I interned for this company that treated me as a consultant. My responsibilities and the employer's level of supervision def. made me a employee. Now I'm stuck with double the payroll tax compared to a employee.

I live in California and I underpaid my taxes this year. Can I send the state an IOU instead of real money?

Also, can I tell my employer to add extra exemptions, because I still want to underpaid my soon-to-be bankrupt state?