Comment: Dear Sir: The following comments/suggestions are in outline form. Should you need or want more detailed suggestions, I will be glad to flesh them out. 1 The Alternate Minimum Tax should be indexed so that it doesn't bite taxpayers earning less than $200,000. 2 The rule that allows corporations to deduct 'performance based bonuses' over $1,000,000 is a joke. The corporate executives getting the 'performance bonuses' are the ones determining the criteria. If you believe they don't define a performance goal that they know they can make, I have a bridge in N.Y. I would like to sell you. Any thing paid to an executive over $1,000,000 should not be deductible for the corporation. 3 Stock options, stock appreciation rights, etc. should all be expensed. 4 Social Security should be collected on all wages up to $1,000,000. Social Security payments should be capped and computed on a maximum average salary of $150,000 per year. 5 A luxury tax should be applied to big ticket items (cars, boats, airplanes) costing over $50,000. This should apply to corporate purchases unless it is a tool of the trade: e.g., an airplane for Delta Airlines. 6 The income tax rate should be progressive. However, gross incomes below a certain figure should not be taxed, while adjusted gross incomes below that figure should be taxed. 7 Sales taxes should be deductible up to a fixed dollar amount, say $10,000. In the interest of simplicity there should be a standard percentage deduction for sales taxes based on the gross income. 8 Retired people without wages should be allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA. Also high income persons should be allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA subject to contribution dollar limits. Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments. Martin Vincent |