Tax cut for the unemployed?

[Winston]

Should unemployed people get a COVID tax cut on their benefits?

or, maybe pay an alternative minimum like the goons on wall st. if their bill is too high?

I was smart and selected to have taxes witheld so, I’m Not worried. But, there will certainly be a lot of people disappointed with their taxes Q1 2021z

 

[Chomsky]

At the least, they should not be taxed on their unemployment comp.

 

[99percenter]

no they shouldn't income is income. Instead the standard deduction should be raised to 250k.

 

[uptower]

 

[jonny5]

Should unemployed people get a COVID tax cut on their benefits?

or, maybe pay an alternative minimum like the goons on wall st. if their bill is too high?

I was smart and selected to have taxes witheld so, I’m Not worried. But, there will certainly be a lot of people disappointed with their taxes Q1 2021z

Im not sure i see the point in taxing unemployment benefits because its circular. A person works and pays for unemployment insurance through state taxes on them or their employer. Then they get fired and collect that money back, and pay taxes on that to the govt which gives them money.

However, we shouldnt have forced unemployment benefits through the govt in the first place.

 

[mrjurrs]

Should unemployed people get a COVID tax cut on their benefits?

or, maybe pay an alternative minimum like the goons on wall st. if their bill is too high?

I was smart and selected to have taxes witheld so, I’m Not worried. But, there will certainly be a lot of people disappointed with their taxes Q1 2021z

All relief aid should be tax free. The people need it and the local economy does as well.

 

[Kushinator]

no they shouldn't income is income. Instead the standard deduction should be raised to 250k.

Not nearly enough revenue....

 

[99percenter]

Not nearly enough revenue....

It's not like the govt has been concerned about debt and revenue for a while.

 

[Kushinator]

It's not like the govt has been concerned about debt and revenue for a while.

You're simply being unrealistic. I don't know how else to explain it to you.

 

[Closer]

Should unemployed people get a COVID tax cut on their benefits?

or, maybe pay an alternative minimum like the goons on wall st. if their bill is too high?

I was smart and selected to have taxes witheld so, I’m Not worried. But, there will certainly be a lot of people disappointed with their taxes Q1 2021z

They need to repeal Saint Ronald of Reagan's scheme of taxing unemployment benefits at all. It was a petty, nasty venal little piece of class warfare crap to begin with.

 

[Closer]

Im not sure i see the point in taxing unemployment benefits because its circular. A person works and pays for unemployment insurance through state taxes on them or their employer. Then they get fired and collect that money back, and pay taxes on that to the govt which gives them money.

However, we shouldnt have forced unemployment benefits through the govt in the first place.

Indeed. They don't tax most insurance payouts, so the only reason to tax unemployment checks is nasty venal and petty class warfare crap.

 

[Closer]

no they shouldn't income is income. Instead the standard deduction should be raised to 250k.

I agree it needs to be raised, but only to what full time minimum wage yearly would be, adjusted for real inflation, around $62K. I use the gold standard; others would much prefer the conservative MW of around $18 an hour, using the government's ridiculously low inflation numbers.

 

[jonny5]

Indeed. They don't tax most insurance payouts, so the only reason to tax unemployment checks is nasty venal and petty class warfare crap.

No, I think its so the govt gets more money to buy votes with. Its just pointless if youre then going to give them the money back. All their doing is wasting money paying tax collectors and distributors. Just lower taxes in the first place.

 

[Lutherf]

Should unemployed people get a COVID tax cut on their benefits?

or, maybe pay an alternative minimum like the goons on wall st. if their bill is too high?

I was smart and selected to have taxes witheld so, I’m Not worried. But, there will certainly be a lot of people disappointed with their taxes Q1 2021z

That's funny. You think AMT is a preferred tax rate.

 

[jimbo]

Not nearly enough revenue....

Then cut expenses.

 

[Kushinator]

Then cut expenses.

At the moment, cutting expenses would stifle the economy... and why would you want to do that when total employment is still 10 million jobs in the red?

 

[brianpatrick]

Then cut expenses.

At the moment, cutting expenses would stifle the economy... and why would you want to do that when total employment is still 10 million jobs in the red?

stifle the economy? Do you live in Lala Land? Because where I live in the US, the economy in certain sectors is already devastated. Other sectors it’s booming, and those of us who are lucky enough to be on the receiving end are busy banging it out, brother. The only way out of this is to follow the “new” economy, innovate, and grow our way out. Until then we’re going to have to hemorrhage money and keep what’s left of the middle class above water. All this talk about petty bullshit is just shell-game political talk.

 

[jimbo]

stifle the economy? Do you live in Lala Land? Because where I live in the US, the economy in certain sectors is already devastated. Other sectors it’s booming, and those of us who are lucky enough to be on the receiving end are busy banging it out, brother. The only way out of this is to follow the “new” economy, innovate, and grow our way out. Until then we’re going to have to hemorrhage money and keep what’s left of the middle class above water. All this talk about petty bullshit is just shell-game political talk.

Trouble is, we're growing our way in, not out.

I'm not the one spouting petty bullshit shell game political talk.

 

[Kushinator]

stifle the economy?

Yes.

Do you live in Lala Land?

I'm certainly not ignorant of macroeconomics.

Because where I live in the US

And i'll just cut you off here, as the rest of your anecdote doesn't address the headwinds facing the U.S. economy. Federal expenditures for FY 2020 were $6.6 trillion, up more than $2.1 trillion from FY 2019. And while i have no doubt sometime in a near distant future, federal expenditures reside at such levels on a yearly basis, 2020 and 2021 will be outliers. As the economy hopefully recovers moving into 2022, we will see government spending as a percentage of aggregate output fall to pre-covid levels.

In the meantime, the developed economies of the world will continue to push expansionary fiscal policy to compliment their monetary policy initiatives, and we are likely to witness well above trend economic growth for 2022 onward.

I really don't believe you fully grasp the point of my comments in this thread.

 

[brianpatrick]

Yes.



I'm certainly not ignorant of macroeconomics.



And i'll just cut you off here, as the rest of your anecdote doesn't address the headwinds facing the U.S. economy. Federal expenditures for FY 2020 were $6.6 trillion, up more than $2.1 trillion from FY 2019. And while i have no doubt sometime in a near distant future, federal expenditures reside at such levels on a yearly basis, 2020 and 2021 will be outliers. As the economy hopefully recovers moving into 2022, we will see government spending as a percentage of aggregate output fall to pre-covid levels.

In the meantime, the developed economies of the world will continue to push expansionary fiscal policy to compliment their monetary policy initiatives, and we are likely to witness well above trend economic growth for 2022 onward.

I really don't believe you fully grasp the point of my comments in this thread.

This thinking right here is very useful in managing businesses. It’s why we need conservatives to do that for us liberal/creative types. Your argument is great for keeping a fixed, known (or forecasted) projection rolling, but it’s bad at recognizing the new or novel in situations. Nobody “knows” what will for sure happen, nobody. If anybody did we wouldn’t need economists and analysts to tell us what they think we should do.

I’m happy to debate this in good faith. I’m genuinely interested in all opinions that are balanced and not political wrt to these issues.

 

[Kushinator]

This thinking right here is very useful in managing businesses. It’s why we need conservatives to do that for us liberal/creative types.

And yet you end your tirade with:

I’m happy to debate this in good faith. I’m genuinely interested in all opinions that are balanced and not political wrt to these issues.

You're not looking for debate.

Your argument is great for keeping a fixed, known (or forecasted) projection rolling, but it’s bad at recognizing the new or novel in situations.

The private sector drives innovation and productivity for the most part. Here and now, the economy is in the toilet, and it will take 2 years with of 400k+ monthly job creation to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

 

[brianpatrick]

And yet you end your tirade with:



You're not looking for debate.



The private sector drives innovation and productivity for the most part. Here and now, the economy is in the toilet, and it will take 2 years with of 400k+ monthly job creation to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

I agree with everything you said, except the I’m “not debating in good faith” part. I am. You can disagree with me without being offended.
the economy as a whole is hurting, yes, but certain sectors are booming. Of course this is also geographically variable, and there are slices of people that can’t easily just pick up and move for a bunch of different reasons. I’m waiting for you to advance the argument. This post didn’t.

 

[Kushinator]

the economy as a whole is hurting, yes, but certain sectors are booming. Of course this is also geographically variable, and there are slices of people that can’t easily just pick up and move for a bunch of different reasons. .

This is always the case. On the aggregate, output has fallen by 3% on an inflation adjusted basis. We will continue to depend on fiscal and monetary stimulus until the private sector has enough confidence to invest at pre-pandemic levels.

Which means we should anticipate higher than normal levels of federal expenditures and fiscal budget deficits.

 

[brianpatrick]

This is always the case. On the aggregate, output has fallen by 3% on an inflation adjusted basis. We will continue to depend on fiscal and monetary stimulus until the private sector has enough confidence to invest at pre-pandemic levels.

Which means we should anticipate higher than normal levels of federal expenditures and fiscal budget deficits.

All true, so where are we disagreeing?

 

[Kushinator]

All true, so where are we disagreeing?

This was your first reply to my last post:

stifle the economy? Do you live in Lala Land?

I assure you the confusion is on your end....