Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

cal04

(41,505 posts)
Wed May 29, 2013, 10:02 PM May 2013

Top U.S. tax breaks to cost $12 trillion over decade, benefit wealthy: CBO

The top ten tax deductions, credits and exclusions will keep $12 trillion out of federal government coffers over the next decade, and several of them mainly benefit the wealthiest Americans, a new study from the Congressional Budget Office shows.

The top 20 percent of income earners will reap more than half of the $900 billion in benefits from these tax breaks that will accrue in 2013, the non-partisan CBO said on Wednesday.

Further, 17 percent of the total benefits would go to the top 1 percent of income earners -- families earning roughly $450,000 or more. The same group that was hit with a tax rate hike in January.

(snip)
"This shows that we could achieve a significant amount of deficit reduction by limiting the preferences to the highest income earners," said Representative Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-usa-fiscal-taxbreaks-idUSBRE94S1FS20130530?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Top U.S. tax breaks to cost $12 trillion over decade, benefit wealthy: CBO (Original Post) cal04 May 2013 OP
had enough yet, america? HiPointDem May 2013 #1
Seems like everyone should have by now, doesn't it? AndyA May 2013 #2
Obviously not. Lots of poor people still vote Republican mindwalker_i May 2013 #4
No Shit Sherlock - Now give me a President that can keep a promise FreakinDJ May 2013 #3
For most tax breaks there are good reasons bhikkhu May 2013 #5

AndyA

(16,993 posts)
2. Seems like everyone should have by now, doesn't it?
Wed May 29, 2013, 10:24 PM
May 2013

They either don't know, don't care, or something. Why isn't everyone screaming about this? The wealthy are successful because things are set up for them to succeed. The wealthy are the welfare whores, not the average American workers.

mindwalker_i

(4,407 posts)
4. Obviously not. Lots of poor people still vote Republican
Wed May 29, 2013, 11:08 PM
May 2013

Guess they haven't connected the fire they feel in their asses with their voting.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
5. For most tax breaks there are good reasons
Thu May 30, 2013, 12:19 AM
May 2013

...and it is worth reading the article.

#1 is the exclusion for employer-paid health benefits. That's where an employer can pay for your health insurance, or contribute toward your health insurance, and you don't have to claim it as income and pay taxes on it. $3.4 trillion.

#2 is the exclusion of pension contributions, so when a company pays into your pension fund, that doesn't count as income you have to pay taxes on. $2 trillion.

...then there's another trillion for the mortgage interest tax deduction. And $1.1 trillion in state and local taxes, which are allowed to be excluded so you don't pay taxes on money you used to pay taxes.

And so forth. Not that there are no unfair deductions, but for the most part deductions are there for a reason. People should read articles before jumping to conclusion, and you can't unfurl up "THE 1%!!!" banner on every single issue. That's how you can get conned into support things like the flat tax, or any of the other simplifications that would make the tax code far less progressive than it is. Much of the complexity of the tax code comes as a result trying to make it more fair and progressive.


Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Top U.S. tax breaks to co...