Posted: May 06, 2005 By: John Russo

Subject: Tax but simplify

Comment: 1)Keep the estate tax. Eliminate things like trusts and off-shore as tax dodges. It is not a death tax, you can leave 60 trillion dollars tax free at $10,000 to everybody on earth. Those you get these gifts generally did nothing to earn the gift and have benefited by the opportunity this country provider the grantor.
2) Simplify the code. get rid of everything except maybe straight-line depreciation. Everything else that is beneficial should be a grant or other program not the tax code.
3) Everyone should use the standard deduction except in special cases. Get rid of write-offs for real estate taxes and interest (and I am a real estate broker in New York!!!). Local taxes would not grow as fast if the IRS wasn't blurring what wasteful local spending really costs. The interest write-off inflates prices and makes housing less affordable and creates a bubble that can burst when rates rise. Simplicity makes taxes fairer and less of a game.

4) The $500,000 house profit exemption every few years is too generous for the few. eliminate or reduce the exemption and it's reuse. It has become counter productive.
5) Tax all income. Job perks, bonuses and options are earnings from a job and should be taxed at their fair market value when given. earnings are earning.
6) People making over a million dollars a year should pay a slightly higher rate than others. As President Bush recently said about relief efforts, it is a measure of civilization that the stronger help the weaker.

Fair simple taxes are best. Loopholes distort the economy and apply to what you don't tax as well as what you deduct. Tax everything but straight up and fairly.

I am know locally as a tax fighter but we need to fund our government and we need to do it in a way that is equal. We all owe our fortunes and incomes to the opportunities this government presents. We need to fund it in a way that everyone feels they are only paying their fair share.
Thank you.