Time to call his bluff.
Obama is still harping on the so-called “Buffett Rule” as some sort of miraculous tax hike, despite the fact that it would only pay off 1% of the debt that Obama has added since he became president.
When Obama first proposed the Buffett Rule last year, I made a post called Voluntary Tax Rates and Personalized Earmarks: How to Solve the Debate over Taxes as the true version of the Buffett Rule. Because, you see, Buffett originally didn’t call for a higher tax rate on the wealthy in general; instead he said that he himself wanted to pay more taxes. Sure, he was just using himself as a personal example, but I thought: Hey, he could be on to something here. Why don’t we all decide at what rate we individually pay taxes? That‘s the Buffett Rule: You want to pay more taxes? Fine — pay ‘em. And if you don’t want to pay more, or even want to pay less — well, we have an option for that too.
To that end, I produced a new version of the IRS’s 1040 form which featured (exactly as the post’s title implied) “voluntary tax rates and personalized earmarks.” But that was last August. Who, after all these months, remembered to use those new forms now that Tax Day has rolled around again?
So I have now updated the revised 1040 form for 2011 and am offering it for download today, April 15, for your convenience.
Obama wants a Buffett Rule? OK, fine — let’s call him on his bluff. Download this “Buffett Rule”-adapted 1040 form, and integrate it into the rest of your IRS forms. As I noted in my original post, this new 1040 form makes everybody happy, because not only can you (like Warren Buffett) pay whatever tax rate you prefer, but you can allocate those taxes to whichever part of government expenses you want.
Two final points for you to ponder:
When I first posted these forms, some naysayers claimed it would never work “because everybody would choose to pay 0% in taxes.” To which I replied: If everybody wants to pay less (or no) taxes, then doesn’t that prove that the Tea Party was right all along? And if we all want to pay less taxes resulting in a much smaller federal government, then we’ve all gotten what we wanted — right?
Which brings us to the second point: If low-tax advocates choose to pay fewer taxes under this scheme, but high-tax advocates choose to pay more, then those high-tax advocates will be the ones allocating most of their payments to the federal programs of their choice — which could lead to a federal bureaucracy slanted toward liberal causes, while things like defense would go unfunded. To counter this, people who might otherwise choose to pay less taxes would voluntary pay more, if only to allocate all of it to those portions of the government they wish to see funded. This could escalate into a “tax arms race,” with each ideological side paying more and more to their chosen aspect of government — leading to even greater revenue for the IRS.
Something to ponder, at least.
So, let’s get to it: Download this 2011 “Buffett Rule” 1040 form, and call the president’s bluff:
(The top image shows the front page of the 1040 form with the two new sections in situ; and the bottom image shows just the newly added sections, for extra clarity. In each case, simply click on the image to see a much larger and clearer version of the amended form.)
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…and, for the record, here’s the same new revision, all by itself (click to enlarge):
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OK…I’ll bite.
1 – Rate: Standard IRS
2 – Defense – Law Enforcement – Foreign Aid – Intelligence Services – NASA – Department of Transportation – General Fund.
3 (controversial) – NO: Abortion – Subsidized Media (PBS, NPR, etc) YES: All Others.
I’d do NASA too, but not while Obama’s president.
Why? We can send him into space. And send Gingrich along to make sure it’s done efficiently, and Paul to make sure it’s done constitutionally. After shooting it off, we’ll realize there’s no constitutional authority and shut down ground control.
– sued by the IRS too?
OK, that’s the Form 1040-BUFFET. I’m waiting to see the Form 1040-GEITHNER.
There’s nothing to see, just a bunch of zero’s.
You’ll have to buy the latest TurboTax software for that!
It’s fun to actually decide where my money goes! I like it!
You forgot one category, Obamastash.
+1
Everyone should fill these OUT and send them to ALL of their Congressional Representatives as well as Respective Minority and Majority Leaders of BOTH the SENATE and HOUSE.
Great idea.
Be interesting to see what most people would fill out for tax rate. Compare conservatives vs. liberals. Bet it wouldn’t be much different and the libs would make it lower than it is currently.
Liberals would rather have two boxes, first would be their personal voluntary rate and the other box would be what rate they want others to be taxed.
Unfortunately mine (to the extent that I have any as a foreign resident) are hard left.
I want to give all my tax money to the First Queen and Her vacations.
Nice!
What? No box for GSA parties in Vegas?
No where does this form ask what your secretary’s tax rate is! How can I calculate my voluntary rate without inputting my gal’s rate?
I proffer $50.00 – $47.00 to setting things right with the Colombian prostitutes that Obama’s secret service stiffed them for (no pun intended), $2.00 for the interest and tip, and $1.00 to the Obama lottery hoping lightning strikes and I can be a rich hypocrite like Warren Buffett.
Excellent!
Pity that money is fairly fungible and any amount “allocated” to one or another cause can readily be reallocated, or can free up money at that cause to be used for something completely different.
Giving money to the Feds is like leaving a bag of McDonald’s fries in the back seat of the car with a toddler. You can be sure the bag will lose a lot of fries before it arrives home, and you can be sure the remaining contents will be a mess when you get there.
Voluntary tax rate 10%
Allocated for:
Defense
Law Enforcement
Intelligence Agencies
Interest payments on the national debt
The departments of Education, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, Homeland Security, HUD, NASA and the rest of it can go suck it.
Allocating to Law Enforcement means more military equipment for Barney Fife, more SWAT-served search warrants, more accidental deaths in those searches, more children watching Dad or Mom handcuffed on the front lawn, more prisons, more felons, more people unable to vote, more people unable to own a gun, a more powerful prison guard union…
Are you sure about that allocation choice?
Very well thought out. But unfortunately, like all logical solutions to federal, bureacratic failure such as the flat tax, Ryan Plan or Heritage’s “Save the American Dream”; it will never be considered seriously.
The pigs won’t willingly vote themselves out of the trough.
A few years ago, thanks to schedule M and the fact I live overseas, I paid a small NEGATIVE tax rate. I don’t see a check for that.
Also, what drives us crazy is figuring the income. Get rid of that and allow an amount.
More nitpicking:
More detail. I want to fund the underfunded union-corruption investigations.
And imagine if foreign aid was by country? Israel and Ireland would be floating in money, and there would be a big fight over whether the “Palestine” money had to be re-allocated on the grounds that the US (or reality) does not consider it a country (at least this week).
Add a general “strict interpretation of the Constitution” clause. Of course, that would destroy Social Security.
Truth be told, it’s not the taxes, or the rate, that irritates me. I know there are plenty of things provided by the government we should have *more* of: space flight, bridge repairs, helicopters, for example.
The problem is HOW it is spent. Government workers retiring at 50, political friends getting cushy jobs, entitlements, desk work that exists only to administer other desk work, redundant expenditures, pointless expenditures, bridges to nowhere, 12 sick days a year, TSA patdowns of toddlers, artwork and silk plants for government offices… etc, etc, etc, etc.
Written into every new law should be “Government personnel administering or enforcing this law cannot receive salary or benefits, including paid time off work, in excess of the private sector average” would be a start.
Where else can you do something stupid that ought to get you fired or at least punished, and get rewarded for it, like government? “Administrative Leave”??? Come on, if you are telling someone not to come in for work, and PAYING HIM ANYWAY, we call that “VACATION”!
I have thought it would be great if earmarks were all placed on Kickstarter. If I see a project I like (Free bicycles for Oklahoma City) then I can pledge money towards that project and if it meets it’s goal, then I can deduct at 100% from my income taxes.
If enough people don’t like a project, it doesn’t pass and it can’t be posted on Kickstarter again for 365 days.
Excellent! But you need one more box, labelled OTHER, with a blank line next to it so I can specify what rate I will pay. I haven’t darkened a church door for decades (except for the occasional Easter service with the grandkids), but if God needs only 10% then government needs only 9.9%.
Great! For me (and many others including, probably Cymbaline), can we just have a box to fund only the functions the Constitution actually authorizes? Yes, 10% would probably be more than adequate for those.