Be honest in tax debate

If you repeat something long enough, eventually people will think it’s true.
That appears to be the case with a canard about poverty and taxes that seems to be repeated routinely by conservative pundits and talking heads on cable TV.
You’ve probably heard a variation of it: The poor don’t pay taxes.
Or, nearly half of Americans don’t pay any taxes.
It’s made its way into public debate so often that many assume it’s true.
But is it?
The kernel of truth involved is apparently a report back in the spring of 2010 by the Tax Policy Center that 47 percent of American households would be paying no income tax that year.
That’s because they didn’t make enough money or they qualified for enough deductions, tax credits, or exemptions.
But it didn’t take long for “paying no income tax” to morph into “paying no taxes,” and there’s a huge difference between the two.
Those American households not paying income tax still paid federal payroll taxes.
They still paid state and local income taxes.
They still paid sales taxes.
And they still paid property taxes.
That last one applies even if they were renting, because a portion of their rent went for taxes.
In fact, because sales taxes and state and local flat rate income taxes are regressive, paying those took a proportionately larger bite out of low incomes.
Tax policy in the U.S. is an incredibly complex issue, and the temptation to blow it up and start over again is understandable.
But if the country is going to have a serious debate over how to fund the functions of government fairly, let’s try to be honest with one another. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]