Barack Obama’s plan to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share of tax has sent Fox News into DEFCON 1.
Taxes
Why taxpayers don’t actually fund anything
Politicians and pundits who use the phrase “taxpayers’ funds are being mis-spent” betray their fundamental lack of understanding about how the monetary system functions, explains Bill Mitchell.
47% of Americans don’t pay taxes?
A recent report found that 47% of Americans owe no federal income tax. That doesn’t mean they aren’t paying other taxes. The Atlantic Wire wraps the facts, the fiction and the fall out.
Abbott’s new nanny state
Tony Abbott has pitched the idea of six months’ paid parental leave. Business, unions and even his own colleagues have slammed (and mocked) the plan. But will it be a winner with Rudd’s “working families”?
Brits and Greeks move to tax banks
Greek and British governments are eying special taxes on the bank profits to help boost income and reduce debt bills, while Ireland may be forced to go to the IMF for aid if it can’t make deep cuts in spending.
Tax on cigs trumps gene lottery
It is more sensible to reduce cigarette smoking by high taxation on tobacco products than to spend resources on identifying those at increased genetic risk, writes Wayne Hall.
Memo to Dutton: increasing tobacco tax works
Peter Dutton, Opposition spokesman on health, argues that increasing tobacco taxes is just a money grab and has “nothing to do with health outcomes”. The evidence suggests otherwise.
In death, the rich get richer
In Arkansas, estates worth up to $US7 million per couple are already exempt from taxes. One Democratic Senator is trying to net the children of Wall Street barons and dot-com millionaires even more.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Grimshaw v Ramsay
Crikey readers take sides in the great slanging match between the chef and the host.
Depress yourself: when do your tax free days start?
Have you ever wondered just how many days worth of work it takes to pay your tax every year, compared to how many days worth of work you get to keep? Possum helps you do the maths.
Love New York, hate the taxes: why one billionaire’s leaving
Decades of out-of-control budgets, spending hikes and relentless borrowing have made New York simply too expensive, writes billionaire Tom Golisano.
A tax rort is a tax rort, unless the AFR says it isn’t
Everyone loves economic reform until it affects them, at which point the excuses and justifications for the status quo — the claims that sounded so hollow when made by others — start coming out.
