|
Positions and Views on Other Issues where Information is Available: |
|
|
| Taxes |
Positions and Views |
| Taxes, a General Statement |
Tancredo: A recent Congressional Budget Office report indicated that the federal tax burden today consumes 20.5 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP), a post-World War II record. When state and local taxes are added, as well as the hidden costs of regulation, Americans today often pay more than forty percent of their total income in taxes. In fact, the average family worked until Tax Day just to pay the tax bill required by the federal, state and local governments. Aside from these direct costs, the cost of complying with the current cumbersome tax code exceeds $200 billion each year. But that’s not all. Once Americans have written their checks to Uncle Sam, they will continue paying government taxes every time they fly on an airplane, make a phone call, fill up their gas tank, or even sit down to have a cold beer. These federal excise taxes cost the average American about $500 per year.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Tax Proposals |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Taxes Policy |
Tancredo: I support tax relief, because it helps families save more for retirement, education, and medical care. In addition to decreasing the overall amount of taxes Americans pay, I also support efforts to scrap the current cumbersome income tax system and start fresh with either a national sales tax or a flat tax.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| Tax Code |
Tancredo: The income tax system, as currently constituted, is a source of frustration for nearly everyone in America -- with the possible exception of the accountants we pay to help us file each year. I think most Americans, regardless of their political party affiliation or personal wealth can agree on one thing: The income tax system is in desperate need of reform. The system is inherently unfair, complex, and burdensome. It discourages investment, savings, and the accumulation of
capital by taxing the three excessively. The income tax code has become so unruly and confiscatory that the average American family worked until almost May last year just to pay the tax bill required by the federal, state and local governments.Once some of the more egregious elements of the tax code are eliminated, it will be much easier for Congress to begin work on the much needed simplification of the tax code. Currently, the system is inherently unfair, complex, and burdensome. It discourages investment, savings, and capital formation by excessive taxtion. The best means of reform has yet to be decided. Reforms will have to be carefully crafted to ensure that revenues are not negatively affected. In Congress, the tide seems to be moving towards one of two possible methods of reform: (1) a flat tax or (2) a consumption based national sales tax, both of which would more fairly and easily tax the American public.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| National Sales Tax |
Tancredo: Replace the income tax with a national sales tax. A growing chorus of economists and experts argue, and I agree, that the current income tax system is complex and unfair and should be replaced by a flat tax or national sales tax. That's why I co-sponsored the FairTax legislation. Simplifying the process would dramatically reduce the costs of compliance, make American companies more competitive, and put billions back into the economy by encouraging investment. A national based sales tax would have many of the same benefits as a flat tax; namely increased compliance, increased savings and investments, decreased cost to the federal government, and increased economic growth. I would support either of these long overdue tax reforms to our nightmarish tax code.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| Flat Tax |
Tancredo: One fundamental improvement over the current progressive and punitive tax code is a flat tax system where every taxpayer, regardless of their level of income, pays the same flat rate of taxation on their income. Implementing a lower, flat tax would encourage investment by ending the double taxation of investment income, eliminating loopholes and curbing exemptions that the wealthy use to lower their tax burdens. It would also create equity in the tax code, as well as greatly reducing the time and cost associated with compliance.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| Reforming and Simplifying Federal Taxes |
Tancredo: Aside from these direct costs, the cost of complying with the current cumbersome tax code exceeds some $200 billion each year. And remember, once Americans have written their checks to Uncle Sam they will continue paying government taxes every time they fly on an airplane, make a phone call, fill up their gas tank, buy an imported item or even sit down to have a cold beer. These federal excise taxes cost Americanshundreds or even thousands of additional dollars each year -- and that figure continues to rise.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| Income Tax Rates |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Marriage Penalty |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Estate Taxes (Death / Birth Tax) |
Tancredo: Eliminat the death tax.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |
| Income Tax on Seniors |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Tax Rates on Private Equity Funds |
Tancredo: No Response |
| 2001 Tax Cuts |
Tancredo: The President’s current ten-year economic proposal builds on the success of the 2001 tax cut. As a result of this law, 92 million working Americans are due to receive additional tax relief in 2004, and again in 2006. By accelerating income tax rate cuts, wiping out all federal taxes on stock dividends paid to investors and boosting the child tax credit by $400 per child, I am confident that my colleagues and I can work together to put more money back in the pockets of the American people.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Tax Credits for College |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Tax Credits for Health Care |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Child Tax Credit |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Tax-Free Savings Accounts |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Business Tax Credits |
Tancredo: No Response |
| R&D Tax Credit |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Corporate Income Taxes |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Corporate Tax Loopholes |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Offshore Tax Havens |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Oil Company Tax Breaks |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Property Taxes |
Tancredo: No Response |
| Internal Revenu Service (IRS) |
Tancredo: Eliminate the IRS with a national sales tax. Perhaps the most attractive feature of this approach is the elimination of the IRS. By eliminating the requirement for individuals to file tax forms every April, we could eliminate the need for this invasive and often abusive agency. A sales tax would also unleash the full potential of the American economy by repealing business and individual income taxes, payroll taxes, self-employment taxes, capital gains taxes, estate taxes, and gift taxes. In their place, a single, nominal tax would be levied on all new goods and services at the final point of purchase for consumption -- the same way cities and states collect sales taxes.
Source: www.teamtancredo.com Date: 12/06/2007 |