May

5

Problems with Missouri tax structure

May 5, 2008 | 3 Comments

Show Me Progress has an interested post on the sad state of Missouri’s tax structure, where the wealthiest citizens have a lower tax rate than the everyone else and the poorest have the highest tax rate. But it’s not all income tax, a big chunk of the imbalance is in propety tax and sales tax.

Even though sales taxes are regressive by nature (meaning they impact the poorest the most), they are increasingly popular.  Politicians seem to see new sales taxes as an easier sell than raising property or income taxes.  In Kansas City, sales pays for everything from streets and bridges to buses and someday light rail. With the total sales tax approaching 8%, just imagine how high it would be without the earnings tax.

Categories: Missouri


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. locomotivebreath1901 on May 14, 2008 6:41 pm

    I’m no tax expert, but I disagree with SMP’s stats on the tax percentages.

    Not sure how he/she/it crunched those figures & rates, but it doesn’t add up to my experience with paying Jeff City’s DOR.

    That being said, if there is a complaint about class/income taxation disparity, the only obvious solution is to implement a ~flat tax~ on ALL citizens at ALL levels of gub’mint.

    If equality is to mean anything, then let it begin with how the gub’mint taxes its citizens – a flat tax – everyone equal – everyone the same. It is the only truly equitable & fair solution for ALL citizens.

  2. Gene W. DeVaux on October 28, 2008 6:28 pm

    Locomotivebreath901 would like to see a flat-tax; he thinks that we are all equal so why not pay at the same tax rate? How can he say that we are all equal when there is such a huge disparity in income between the bottom and the top earners in our country. CEOs make hundreds if not thousands of times the earnings of the people who work in their companies. So, using his logic, the poor worker who has a hard time feeding his or her family should pay at the same tax rate as the CEOs and Rush Limbaugh who makes 50 million dollars a year. Tell me how he can justify taxing the poor at the same rate as the rich. The flat tax and the value added tax would destroy the middle class in this country and would only benefit the rich and well to do. If I were him, I’d stop smoking automotives.

  3. locomotivebreath1901 on October 30, 2008 1:45 pm

    Interesting response, yet it’s disparate, like your tax ideal.

    And I do think all people are equal!

    I think this nation is the best place on earth, despite its flaws, to provide equality of opportunity – not equality of outcome.

    I guess that’s the difference between you ‘progressives’ and us conservatives:

    Conservatives believe in an egalitarianism of people and hierarchy of ideas, but you libs demand a totally illogical & authoritarian tiered system of people, and a sameness of ideas. (except those ideas not ‘approved’ as PC)

    Equality under the law for ALL Americans is what I want.

    Not just for poor Americans, or rich Americans, or protected class Americans; ALL Americans.

    Equal in the eyes of the Law.

    A flat tax is the definition of that equality.

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