I just finished my Federal taxes for 2012 .....

[oldhippie]

59. Thank you for those numbers, and your comments ....

.... which I believe are right on, and actually make the point I was trying to make better than I did. Everyone's tax situation is different. The tax code is huge and complicated and has hundreds of loopholes (or incentives) to encourage (or punish) certain behaviors. When I hear a comment like above "Romney pays 13.9%" I have to wonder what two lines on the 1040 that is calculated from. And I think it probably wasn't calculated that way, but is an estimate figuring in all the loopholes and incentives he uses. That's why I wanted to use my 1040 lines definitions to at least have a (if low level) consistent basis for a comparison.

All of those "loopholes" and "incentives" were put into the tax code to encourage certain behaviors, not to enhance revenue. Yes, some of them were pushed by lobbyists for certain industries to get a tax break for themselves, and rationalized them by pointing out certain benefits to the taxpayers. And the legislature falls for it. But many of the provisions were put in for very good reasons to benefit the populace. The IRA and other retirement savings provisions, education deductions and credits, medical provisions, and many other "loopholes" are put to good use by many of us, and we wouldn't want those to be eliminated, would we? There are good loopholes and bad loopholes, depending on your perspective.

Anyway, I guess the point I was trying to make is that just throwing out that Mr XXXX pays a tax rate of xx.x% doesn't really mean much to me unless I know the basis of the numbers. People can pick and choose their numbers to push whatever agenda they wish. My poor little old engineer brain can deal with a certain amount of complexity, but I need to know the basis of the calculations to really understand what is going on.

Again, thank you for your comments.