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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   30491 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 12, 2024

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A few months ago I commented on how vote buying is becoming commonplace of late.

Kamala's latest salvos have taken this to ridiculous new heights. It's hard to keep track but so far I see:

  • Student loan forgiveness
  • Medical debt forgiveness
  • Payments for people buying new homes
  • Payments for people paying more than 30% of their income as rent
  • Payments for newborns
  • Price controls on groceries !?

She even copied Trump's rather feeble attempt to buy votes with his "no taxes on tips" idea. (Not direct vote buying since this only offers relief from taxes, not direct payments).

Needless to say, subsidizing demand and price controls have a disastrous track record wherever they've been tried. Her policies, if implemented, would create huge disruptions in the market and likely to lead to high inflation as well as a serious and deep recession. If you are a net contributor to the tax system, things will become much worse for you as your taxes go up massively to pay for the freeloaders.

In other news, the price of gold hit an all-time high today.

I mean, to be fair, no taxes on tips acknowledges a de facto reality: who reports their tips in their tax returns? Enforcement would be impossible. As a handout to Nevada, it makes sense politically.

Harris's proposed policies make Trump look like the king of austerity. Considering how spendthrift he is, that's an accomplishment.

I mean, to be fair, no taxes on tips acknowledges a de facto reality: who reports their tips in their tax returns? Enforcement would be impossible. As a handout to Nevada, it makes sense politically.

Taxing tips is basically a huge part of IRS enforcement. It is why you always see stats that most audits are on low-mid income people. The IRS knows they dont report so they audit them and check bank statements, and almost always find the person was committing tax fraud by underreporting tips.

check bank statements,

In my country tips are much smaller and they're left as cash. Would there be a way to audit those? Are US tips all credit card based or given as part of waiter's salary?

Yes. Cash tips get audited quite frequently. Along with the restaurants themselves.

Cash tips get audited quite frequently.

By what mechanism?

IRS sees you work in a service coded sector. They check your tip box. If its empty they get super suspicious. If its filled out their database compares your number to everyone else in your area and flags those that appear low. Those get assigned a case agent who sends you a threatening letter asking for proof of your reported number matches. You have none cus you're a lying liar who lied and got caught. Now they are looking at your bank statements for 3 years and eventually you enter some payment plan to pay back the last 3 years of tip fraud you committed.

You have none cus you're a lying liar who lied and got caught.

But in reality I have none because no one has any proof about cash tips, right?

Now they are looking at your bank statements for 3 years

To what end?

pay back the last 3 years of tip fraud you committed

So basically they just assume that I made the average tip amount in my area and calculate the fraud based on this?

It seems like the difference between my reported amount and the average must be very high for this method to be of any significance. If I work at an unpopular bar my tips might be 3x less than the average without any tip fraud whatsoever.

But in reality I have none because no one has any proof about cash tips, right?

There is cash deposited in your bank account. Wheres that from buddy? The other bartender at your bar reported $20k in cash tips and you reported $0.

Or maybe you are unbanked, but also somehow pay $1000 in rent and $500 in car payments every month while reporting $500 in income. Sus sus.

To what end?

To see all the cash you deposited.

So basically they just assume that I made the average tip amount in my area and calculate the fraud based on this?

Thats where they start. Then they dig.

It seems like the difference between my reported amount and the average must be very high for this method to be of any significance. If I work at an unpopular bar my tips might be 3x less than the average without any tip fraud whatsoever.

Of course. But because you are stupid and a bartender at a shitty bar, your reported a ludicrous amount that no one could possibly believe because you think you are smarter than the system.

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