Post by Bret Walker on Dec 19, 2003 9:15:55 GMT -5
I was on my way into work today and listening to sports talk radio (610 AM WIP), and a caller called in to talk about something he saw as an injustice, and I said to myself, "Why haven't I ever thought about it that way before?"
When you pay money into a retirement fund out of your paycheck, it's taken out before taxes are taken from your paycheck. You are not taxed on the money that goes into your retirement fund. However, when you take money out of the retirement fund, you pay taxes on the money as it comes out. The reason for this is to prevent the government from "double-dipping," or taking taxes on money that's already been taxed.
That's not the issue, that's just an example of how it's supposed to be.
But when someone buys a brand-new car, they pay tax on the amount paid for the car. The government gets taxes for the sale of the car. If the owner of the car then sells the car later to someone else, the new person pays tax on the sale of the car. So now the government has received taxes TWICE on the same car. God forbid that the new owner should sell it again, and the third owner will now pay sales tax on the car AGAIN. Every time the car is re-sold, the government takes a tax from the buyer.
Now if that ain't double-dipping, I don't know what is. If anything, the seller of the car should have to pay income tax based on the amount he sold the car for, because that money is income. But to have each new buyer of the same car pay sales tax on that car is assinine.
When the guy brought it up this morning, I felt outraged. Am I the only one who sees the injustice of this system?
When you pay money into a retirement fund out of your paycheck, it's taken out before taxes are taken from your paycheck. You are not taxed on the money that goes into your retirement fund. However, when you take money out of the retirement fund, you pay taxes on the money as it comes out. The reason for this is to prevent the government from "double-dipping," or taking taxes on money that's already been taxed.
That's not the issue, that's just an example of how it's supposed to be.
But when someone buys a brand-new car, they pay tax on the amount paid for the car. The government gets taxes for the sale of the car. If the owner of the car then sells the car later to someone else, the new person pays tax on the sale of the car. So now the government has received taxes TWICE on the same car. God forbid that the new owner should sell it again, and the third owner will now pay sales tax on the car AGAIN. Every time the car is re-sold, the government takes a tax from the buyer.
Now if that ain't double-dipping, I don't know what is. If anything, the seller of the car should have to pay income tax based on the amount he sold the car for, because that money is income. But to have each new buyer of the same car pay sales tax on that car is assinine.
When the guy brought it up this morning, I felt outraged. Am I the only one who sees the injustice of this system?
