Comment: Dear Sirs and Madams: I am writing as a private citizen and not a representative of my employer. My opinions are mine alone and should not be construed to be those of my employer. * Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions - Employee Business Expenses. In my profession I incur a fairly substantial amount of employee business expenses related to my employment that is non-reimbursed. However, because I am a married person filing jointly, I must include my husband's income in the 2% threshhold that must be surpassed before deducting any of these expenses. In my case, this is a "loss" of approximately $2,000 in justifiable directly related business expenses each year. * Alternative Minimum Tax - In recent years, my above complaint regarding tax laws has become a mute issue due to AMT. As you are aware AMT was developed to target the highest income taxpayers who were able to avoid paying taxes due to various tax avoidance strategies developed in the 60's and '70's. However, of the 1.7% of all AMT taxpayers who have AGI over $1 million, only 47 in 2004 were subject to AMT. AMT is now hitting the "middle to upper-middle classes". In fact almost 90% of all AMT taxpayers are those with income levels of $75,000-$500,000 per year. Although I live in the "wrong" color state - blue not red - I encourage a dramatic reform of AMT. The dramatic increases in real estate prices are increasing mortgage interest and property tax payments which ultimately affect a taxpayer's AMT status. * National Sales Tax - I would strongly encourage the introduction of a national sales tax. Such a tax would finally garnish revenues from the huge underground and untaxed economy in this country. This tax would tap not only illegal operations (drugs, prostitution, etc.), but also other cash operations which while legal are not fully disclosed, and cash wages paid to illegal immigrants. This Sales Tax should not be imposed on rents for housing or on purchases of homes. * Flat Tax - By implementing a National Sales Tax, the threshold of income which would be taxed for individuals could be raised so as to not have an effect of higher taxes for the lowest income taxpayers. Actually a two-tiered flat tax might be a solution whereby the first $XX,XXX of dollars would be taxed at 10-15% and the amount over that threshold taxed at 15-20%. Because there would be a National Sales Tax the wealthiest Americans generally consume more goods and would be still paying the bulk of the taxes. Some type of deductions need to be provided for self-employed individuals, charitable gifts, mortgage interest and local taxes (state/city income tax, local sales tax, property tax). * Estate Taxes - These taxes should be repealed permanently. The bulk of these assets have been taxed before and therefore estate taxes result in double-taxation. Taxes were paid on the investment initially by the decedent or on the income derived from the investment, and then taxed again when paid to the beneficiaries. One of the areas where this would not be the case is in the area of retirement accounts. However, when distributions are taken by the beneficiaries from these accounts, the beneficiaries pay income tax. Therefore, to tax the estate for the value of the retirement account and then again tax the beneficiaries for the withdrawal is double taxation. By giving the beneficiaries more of an inheritance, they will spend more - creating more revenue through a National Sales Tax - and provide impetus to the economy through consumer spending. Spending in the hands of the consumer always is better for the economy in the long-run than in the hands of the government. Thank you for soliciting the comments from the public as you embark on this challenging exercise. Sincerely, Jeannette M. Dobbyn |