Discuss the effect of Romney’s tax rate cut proposal on his personal income taxes. Show how much he would save. Point out that to eliminate some of this windfall he would have to eliminate the charitable deduction. How would charities like to hear that this deduction is being eliminated?

Location: USA

As a small (very small) business owner I’m concerned about an increase in taxes on the modest amount of revenue we generate. I own a video production business and we generate around 100k per year as I am the only employee. As the president had briefly mentioned, as part of the 97% of small business owners, we need to be re-assuered that our taxes will not go up. However there are the “small businesses” that generate millions of dollars a year. The general public don’t view these businesses as “small business” even though they are constantly being addressed as so in every speech that is made.

The same scenario goes for the middle class. Most people don’t view others that make $300,000 a year as middle class. It’s only those that are used to seeing multi-million dollar incomes that see a $300,000 per year income as a modest middle class income. I also think many Americans don’t even realize who the middle class is.

President Obama needs to define, with numbers, the “middle class” and “small business” as he did 4 years ago. And then he needs to go on to make a distinction as to where the tax breaks or increases will take effect. Romney is easily including much higher incomes than most people realize into these categories, which is rightly so because they are “middle class” incomes, but if the general public actually saw the income numbers that he’s talking about when he speaks of the “middle class” and “small business” I think the public’s view of Romney really being in touch with the real American middle class would dramatically shift.

Sincerely,

Mike Burns

Location: Port Jefferson, NY

Eliminate the income cap on the social security tax. It seems fair to have everyone pay the same overall percentage and the added revenues would help to shore the program up while other measures are considered.

Individual tax, I think what everyone is upset over is that its not a fair system. Fair is when everyone pays the same according to his or her means. A flat rate would accomplish this – say 15% for everyone from the 1st dollar you make to the last. You could still have the credits and other perks that have been in the code to help the struggling families (CTC, EITC) and to encourage investment (mortgage interest credit et.al.); but if at the end of it all the same rate was paid by all it would appear to be fairer.

Also, people need to understand and be able to plan for their tax obligations, a bill that would demand that no changes to the taxation system could occur after November 1 of any given year for the taxes due the following April would go a long way to making Americans feel secure and in control of their finances. In addition it would provide the preparer/IRS community sufficient time to study the changes – increasing overall tax system efficiency.

Location: Marion, Iowa

Suggestions that when the democrats play old tapes of Obama saying that he’s in favor of redistribution that the response should be that the tape is 14 years old and that you qualified the statement by indicating that there’s nothing wrong with “modest” redistribution to help the people who are less fortunate…the Republicans and Tea party caucus cartegorize redistribution like it’s a sinful! Well, from a Christian standpoint, it’s a sin if the wealthy do not help the less fortunate, so given that most wealthy people are helping many of the needy thru Charitable giving, which gives them a great tax benefit, but Charities can’t do it all! So the real question is what minimum amount or percentage of income should our wealthy pay to help less fortunate, to protect our country…the lists can go on? Paying out only 15% of dividend income and long-term capital gains is surely not enough of a sacrifice to help our country provide benefits to feed the needy, help our children fulfill their educational needs, including student loans to go to college , provide employment beneits to those that have lost their jobs, especially for our returning soldiers trying to find a job. When the less than wealthy who are somewhat successful in their careers and earning say $ 326K (AGI) and have to pay taxes of 24%, I don’t think the very wealthy are paying “their fair share” if they are paying @ a rate of 15% or less! At a minimum, the “Bush tax” cuts should be rolled back to the pre-2002 levels!

Location: Vero Beach, Florida

I suggest that the government gives tax incentives to companies that allow a large number of employees work from home.

This would allow more families to have a work-from-home parent which could help stabilize peoples home life. Also this would cut a families gas usage, as well as the reduction of traffic and destruction of our roads. This would also help build the US’s fiber-optic infrastructure.

Location: All over the US

Implement a tax credit or similar incentive for parents of public school children who show improvement, and a smaller incentive for a student maintaining a high-level of performance. This would help reinvigorate education and reinforce both Race To The Top and a tax-cut extension by properly placing more motivation and responsibility upon parents at all socio-economic levels to motivate and parent their children in support of good attitudes toward educational achievement and career focus. The measure would help correct udue overemphasis currently misdirected at teacher performance and testing, and would motivate socio-economic segments needing such incentives and improvement. This tax incentive would also help slow the deleterious brain drain of better, more well-off students from public schools.

Location: North Palm Beach, Florida

If the President and the house could pass a new tax credit and penalty that focused solely on hiring and training American citizens that would make the return on investment so lucrative to get people back to work it would stimulate the economy, We need the corporations to stop holding their capital and start to spend it here so that if you do business in the USA the tax benefits of hiring citizens would far outweigh outsourcing the work to another country. If corporation are focused on hiring Americans maybe the would start to think longterm about how they can help invest in our school systems to create a more intelligent and productive work force from a elementary a secondary school age.

Location: Dc

My suggestion is to add a freedom tax. if you did not serve in the military you have to pay a freedom tax. if you did serve in the military you would be exempted for 30 years.
Karl Nollie
karlnollie@Yahoo.com

Location: Atlanta,Georgia