Post #225331
2026-02-03 00:22 UTC
Replies (40)
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@wildncrazyguy138@fedia.io 2026-02-03 02:30
Y’all know earnings on corporations are taxed twice, right? Sole proprietorships - taxed once, partnerships - taxed once. I mean, I'm all for it, fuck corps, they are a funnel for profits at the expense of everything else in society, but let’s put the hate where deserved, like the fact that the government treats them as a fucking (morally bankrupt) limited liability person, rather than just pointing out some voodoo economics financial accounting trick that probably won’t ever change so long as the rules allow them to exist.
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@BillyClark@piefed.social 2026-02-03 01:59
During the previous administration, Congress passed the [Inflation Reduction Act,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act) which included $80 billion for IRS to hire more people to go after the rich. The CBO estimated that it would collect $200 billion in the next decade, but there were other predictions of $560 billion. Trump reversed all of that. [Elon Musk and DOGE fired 1/3 of the IRS work force.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/04/02/trump-doge-irs-layoffs-tax-audits-budget/82754087007/)
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@Caesium@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 02:31
it's almost like the rich are the ones actually running the country
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@orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 2026-02-03 04:39
And we still have to play the guessing game where we try to estimate the number that the government already knows, but won’t divulge to us, like some sort of fucked up psychological game. This shit is so fucked. I’m awaiting the collapse.
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@SaucySnake@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 02:20
The issue afaik is that Jeff bezos's $200B is in assets like stocks, and the buy borrow die strategy of getting loans using assets as collateral lets rich people spend money without actually cashing in said assets which would trigger capital gains taxes. Idk how to stop this prevalent strategy but between that and the corporate tax system ignoring money that goes back into the company letting corporations invest their profits to ignore taxes that's why so few taxes are collected on those groups. Feel free to correct anything inaccurate.
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@OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 15:43
Pro tips: Many jurisdictions don't require you to have a business license if your revenue is under a certain threshold and the work you do is unregulated. Basically, you can just decide you own a business at any time without filling out any paperwork. Housecleaning, auto mechanic, and IT consulting businesses aren't regulated and can be used to justify 90% of common purchases. A YouTube channel is a business and can be used to write off anything you make a video about. Any major purchases you made throughout the year can be declared as an asset of your business. If you say you only use it for business 50% of the time, it's practically impossible for anyone to disprove. Also, 50% of the money you spend on those major purchases can be declared as a business loss, which further reduces your tax obligation. So, let's say you bought a PC and a 3D printer this year. You can decalre both as assets belonging 50% to your business, declare half the cost as a business expense, and declare no income from the business. You can also declare half of your gas purchases as being for your business. You'll get a credit for the asset, and a credit for the "business loss." Basically, you can create a company that has your home address as its HQ, say it didn't earn any money, but you invested in it. Then, declare ordinary purchases as assets and investments into the company by saying you use them for business 50% of the time. There's no requirement to have a business license before telling the IRS you have a business. There's no requirement to run a business "well" and there's no penalty for running a business badly. Receipts aren't required to declare assets or losses, but you may need them if you're audited. You're unlikely to be audited due to the 50% declaration. If you are audited and you have receipts, you're covered. Disclaimer: I'm not a tax professional and this isn't advice.
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@btsax@reddthat.com 2026-02-03 15:24
Pro tip: if you are actually making side income like this and reporting it to the IRS then in many situations you can deduct the costs of the things you needed to buy in the course of generating that income. This does not work on W2 income, though, as much as it would be nice to deduct the costs of driving to an office etc
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@RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 21:59
Income is the *worst* way to make money. Which is why these rich clowns don’t make (relatively) much money. All of it is capital gains and loans. Taxed far less and not at all, especially when it’s routed through all sorts of expenses and shell companies.
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@OutForARip@lemmy.ca 2026-02-03 20:35
Well how else are they going to subsidize the losses of the rich if not with your dollars?
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@Biffsbraincell@lemmy.zip 2026-02-03 07:29
Yeah it's called capitalism not poorism.
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@Wilco@lemmy.zip 2026-02-03 14:31
The real question is how many billions in welfare government bailouts and credits did Tesla get? Republicans are so worried about poor people on welfare, but Tesla would literally be closed without welfare money. Rules for thee.
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@carrotfox@piefed.social 2026-02-03 03:04
Rules for thee, not for me
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@BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2026-02-04 16:18
Tesla just announced a $5.7 billion profit, and will pay $0 on taxes. That foreign Goblin destroyed our government, stole priceless data, and pays no taxes? That's the kind of immigrant I'm interested in kicking out of the country, after a serious beating.
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@RockBottom@feddit.org 2026-02-03 06:47
Don‘t elect pro capital governments, then.
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@cecilkorik@piefed.ca 2026-02-04 16:35
I love paying *my share* of taxes and I will always do so to the absolute best of my ability, whether the amount is justified or not. Taxes are wonderful, represent an investment in your country and your society, and can be used to create great things that benefit all of us. My anger is not for taxes, my anger is *exclusively reserved* for those who *do not pay their share of taxes* and the shamefully dishonest politicians who porkbarrel those taxes into things that mostly benefit themselves and then sabotage other politicians attempts to do actual good because they're not benefiting themselves. Taxes are not the problem. Those people are the problem, and we are going to have to do something about those people. I am working deliberately and relentlessly towards that goal instead. I believe in civilization and society and I will rebuild this fucking thing from the ground up, brick by brick if I have to.
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@SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 15:56
But but you can't tax the Holy Job Creators! /s
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@DupaCycki@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 06:15
Is it imperative you're miserable and barely scraping by. Top 1 priority. Actually, it's in your best interest, but you just don't realize it!
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@jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-03 14:16
I'm all for corporations and the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes, which they often don't. However, revenue is **not** income and gains on investments are unrealized gains until you sell your shares and withdraw the cash. If I'm reading Tesla's income statement correctly, they expect to pay something like $1.4B in taxes on $5.2B in income for 2025. _Figures calculated using fuzzy pre-coffee math in my head and may not reflect any reasonable accounting standards_
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@IhaveCrabs111@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 05:42
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@jve@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 19:36
So funny!
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@boaratio@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 22:02
The billionaires are the thought leaders. Clearly they didn't just fail upwards, and should just be in charge of the direction of our entire society. These nepo babies should absolutely be in charge.
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@village604@adultswim.fan 2026-02-03 20:38
That's because Bezos's net worth is in imaginary money. His actual income from Amazon was only like $80k a year. Unrealized gains shouldn't be taxed unless they're being used as collateral to get real money.
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@TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 21:47
and both would have a big impact on the economy, that may not generate overall positive results.
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@FluorineBalloon@programming.dev 2026-02-03 05:50
Nope! 36,000 gross and 27%.
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@OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 16:15
What if I told you it's possible to tax assets you own, not just money you earn? Wealthy people make money by simply collecting interest off of owned assets. You and I are the ones who must earn income by selling our labor. By taxing income and not assets, poor people are forced to subsidize the existence of the wealthy.
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@Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 18:39
17% is still 17x more tax burden than Bezos or musk pays.
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@paultimate14@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 14:55
It's really gross to me how people misrepresent taxes so often. And especially people who I KNOW aren't complaining about OASDI and Medicare, other than perhaps they need MORE funding. Yet they include those when they toss out random numbers like "25%". The tax rates are defined and published. These aren't fuzzy numbers we can play with, like survey results or experimental measurements or estimates. It's literally just math and yet people refuse to do it.
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@OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 16:19
Offer to do their taxes for them. Pocket the difference. Better it go to you than the IRS.
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@OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 15:47
We can't. Taxes are deducted automatically by employers. Tax season is really just "donation season" for the tax preparation industry
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@DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 2026-02-03 15:39
How do I stop paying taxes? They are automatically deducted from my paychecks before I see any money myself. Also stores will refuse to sell to me if I don't pay sales tax.
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@Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2026-02-03 16:29
Yes, v you can adjust your w4 withholding deductions with your employer. But there's a penalty for underpaying to specifically prevent you from doing this. And unlike for rich people, w2 worker audits can be done basically automatically without any human input because it's super easy to calculate, as your employer tells the IRS how much you earned that year
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@village604@adultswim.fan 2026-02-03 20:42
Yes, you have the option of going to prison for tax evasion.
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@Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2026-02-03 23:51
If you don't pay what you owe, they garnish your wages and make you pay even more! Woo, you beat fascism.
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@pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-04 18:00
You're starting to get into trolling behavior. This is a warning.
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@pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-04 18:06
3x exactly the same way. What country are you from?
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@MutilationWave@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-02-03 22:35
Yes there is. You can claim however many you need to make sure nothing is automatically removed. Most people can't budget though so it's a bad idea in general when they get that huge bill once a year. However talking about not paying anymore? Yep, go for it. I'm tempted to just pay my local and property taxes and say fuck federal taxes until shit improves.
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@OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 2026-02-04 15:40
You can claim yourself as a dependent which will result in less tax being taken from your paycheck
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@IronBird@lemmy.world 2026-02-03 17:16
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@village604@adultswim.fan 2026-02-03 20:40
Not unless you had a $0 tax liability the previous year.
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@btsax@reddthat.com 2026-02-03 17:26
Above the line deductions reduce your taxable income, from there you take the standard deduction or itemize. You are conflating two separate events