In the old world collecting tribute was dangerous because the people were much more restless. Today the people actually think it is their duty to pay their masters.
Today, in honor of our annual tax tribute day, I am going to explain something very fundamental to you about your “income tax”. And then I am going to make a modest proposal.
My argument uses their own rules. Thus, if the argument I make is not sufficient to carry the day for any change, then there is ZERO point going any further down the rabbit hole to discuss the difference between income and “wages”, or whether or not the code includes only foreigners, or whether it was properly ratified etc. and on and on. The upshot of each of those types of arguments is that you somehow “don’t owe any tax” because of magic words and hidden meanings. That is not realistic.
The tax is owed, because the king says it is owed. The subjects must pay the king because the king has the guns. It is the height of absurdity to think the king will forego his tribute because of magic words.
But this tax situation does provide a “teaching moment” to let you see where you really stand in this “free” country. So I will do my best to make lemonade.
To understand my argument you need to understand a couple very fundamental tax concepts. Gross income versus Net income, and the concept of how you get from gross to net which is basis and deductions. Our rulers have set up the system, so those are the rules we will use.
If you’re already rolling your eyes at the terms I just used and are saying to yourself that this is going to be “too complicated” and “you can’t do math” then best of luck to you. You have no chance.
I’ve started using common core math to calculate what I owe on my 1040. I love it!
Under the Tax code income is either gross or net. Above the line or below the line in the vernacular. “Income tax” is assessed on Net income.
Businesses are not taxed on gross income because they would all go out of business. Think about grocery stores, they operate on very slim “margins”. Most make a net of roughly 2% of sales. So for every 100k in sales, i.e. Gross income, they “net” after expenses, 2k. If the taxable rate was assessed on their “gross income” then even a 2% rate would mean that there was NOTHING left over. Because 2% of 100k is 2k.
The tax is assessed on the net, so even if the rate is 50% on the net, the tax owed is only 1k, because 50% of 2k is 1k.
If you can’t follow this example, then again, you can’t be helped.
So gross income is the amount that “came in” and “net income” is the amount you have left over after paying the “allowable deductions”.
The next concept you need to understand is basis. It has to do with what you own. Here is what the IRS says about it.
“In most situations, the basis of an asset is its cost to you. The cost is the amount you pay for it in cash, debt obligations, and other property or services.”
Deductions are the basic expenses you incur in obtaining a profit such as the rent and salaries the grocery store paid.
Now let’s look at a simple example of how these interact in practice to the very limited extent necessary to make my point as to the income tax on your wage.
Let’s say you have a business that makes money by letting people dump their “vote Hillary” signs into its holes after the election. Clearly the first thing the business has to have is holes. It can buy the right to use holes that already exist or it can dig new holes. They both cost money.
I know it seems a bit extravagant, but my accountant said it was fully deductible, and I think it really “sets off the room.” Plus the chicks seem to dig it.
Now whether the company hires men to dig the hole with shovels, or whether it rents a back hoe, either way it gets to deduct that cost. It doesn’t matter if you purchase labor or capital. They are both deductible. That is important.
They both represent a cost incurred to obtain something of VALUE. The company in effect turns some of its money (which has value) into another form of value, i.e. the hole. It is simply an exchange. In effect, it is a sort of mutation of the value the company already owns, from money to hole.
Think of it like this. If they have $1,000.00 of start up capital and they didn’t dig the hole or spend it then there is no taxable event because they own that money, i.e. they have a $1,000.00 basis in their $1,000.00. Clear?
When they choose to dig the hole they exchange the $1,000.00 in money for the $1,000.00 in labor and thus there is no tax consequence because they have exchanged things of equal value. They now have a hole worth a basis of $1,000.00. I’m simplifying of course, but you should get the idea.
There are numerous other examples of exchanges where there is no tax consequence because the exchange is of things of equal value, i.e. where your basis is the same.
If I trade you my boat for your boat and both boats are the same value, there is no gain and thus no tax consequence. If I sell you a boat I already own for the same amount I bought the boat for, then again, there is NO GAIN and thus no income to tax. When you buy a stock and it goes up in value. You only pay tax on the difference between what you paid for it (your basis) and what you sold it for (your net profit). You don’t pay tax on the total price of the stock, only on the gain or loss. Got it?
Those are simplified examples of the concept of “basis” as that term is defined in the tax code. You only get taxed on the gain or “income” over and above what you already own.
Now when someone pays to dump a Hillary sign into the hole, that is Gross income for the company. The Net income is reached by deducting out what it costs to operate the company and the “basis” (or the value of the hole) is slowly eaten up as it is filled. Of course all of this is necessarily simplified.
So now that we have the fundamentals lets look at how it applies to your “income” which is a wage or salary that you then have to pay “income tax’ on and I will show you where the problem is.
The genius behind the latest IPO called “Holes R Us” is shown here sitting in one of his early prototypes. He later allegedly perfected and patented his idea for a “cloud based hole digging system” the company is now valued at 23 billion. He wrote a bestselling “business strategy book” as well titled “do what you love and the money will come”. Brilliant, according to the NY Times. He responds to critics who say that nobody has ever actually built a cloud based hole yet by telling them that he is a visionary and that they don’t understand his vision.
To the extent your wage or salary is “income” at all, it is simply “gross income”. The IRS defines it as such. “The Internal Revenue Code states that “gross income means all income from whatever source derived.”
Individuals have certain “allowable” deductions available to them. “Deductions”, credits and “exemptions” are how congress controls individuals and businesses to make them do things they want and to not do other things, and to reward their benefactors and to punish their enemies. The deductions are things like housing, medical expense, kids, interest, and on and on.
We are now ready to see the problem. So lets go back to the hole digging analysis.
Say you were one of 10 people they hired to dig their $1,000.00 hole and they paid you $100. What is the tax consequence under the code? Simple, the company writes off the $100 as an expense, and you pay tax on the $100 you received as “income”.
Do you see the problem yet?
Does your employer pay you more than you are worth? No. By definition if he did that it would be a GIFT. He is paying you for the VALUE/basis of the work you provided. That value/basis IS YOUR WORK. Do you not own your own labor? Ahh, that’s the rub. The “allowable” rub.
You see the government tax code does not “allow” you to deduct out the cost basis of the labor you provided.
Let me show you what I mean. The company bought the labor and it had a recognized value of $100 in the market. But what about the OTHER SIDE OF THE TRANSACTION? YOUR SIDE?
Who has the right to the value of that labor that you created and that the business then paid for and deducted? You created it with your time and life and expertise, just like every other piece of work you perform. It is YOUR LIFE. So what happens to the proverbial “other boat”? in this exchange?
If you hadn’t worked and had chosen to simply sit at home and play a video game they would not have paid you because the work value would not have come into existence. There would have been nothing to tax you on because there would have been no exchange.
I found that digging holes was a lot more satisfying than practicing law. And I could actually use the hole when I finished. So win, win. Here my partner and I test our custom holes.
But you did work. You spent your time and effort and life, and it had a value of $100. You EXCHANGED something you own, which is a part of your life for the $100. The basis you have in the labor expended is set when you are paid for it. It is boat for boat! They are identical. By Definition!
Just as the business had equal basis in the money it paid you and it was simply an exchange and therefore they get to deduct the paid amount. On the flip side the labor you provided, which YOU OWN, was an exchange for something of EQUAL VALUE, the $100 they owned and paid you. Boat for boat.
Do you see it yet?
There are only two possibilities of how to analyze this transaction UNDER THEIR OWN RULES and each of them produce a zero tax consequence exchange for both parties.
One, you have a basis of $100 in the labor you provided and so it is an even exchange, boat for boat.
Or two, you received $100 in gross income for your labor, and you should be “allowed” to deduct out that same amount because you chose to produce $100 of labor that YOU OWNED. Thus the net income is zero, no tax consequence either way.
If you still can’t see it then think of it like this. A business must pay salary to employees in order to make a profit. They get to deduct out the cost of that labor they buy and the employee sells because it has value. The exact same analysis applies to you when you work for yourself. You own and provide the value that is exchanged for an equal amount of money. There is no net income left over, by definition.
In the past I spent a lot of time talking to my fellow citizens about the inequity of the system. But they seemed to think I was the problem. A trouble maker I think they said. They used to tell me to stick to the mud, and the mud will stick to you. I never did understand why anyone would seek that outcome.
The logic is unavoidable. The only reason it isn’t the same in practice, is because the government does not “allow” you the deduction for your own time and life.
The government is telling all of its subjects that they do not have a right to their own labor. That the State owns your life and labor. There is NO OTHER EXPLANATION USING THEIR OWN RULES.
We know that it has value, because they “allow” the business to deduct what it must pay for it.
If it had zero value, then the businesses could NOT DEDUCT THE WAGES AND SALARIES THEY PAID YOU. But they do allow them to deduct them because they do have VALUE. The exact amount of value you received is the amount you gave and the exact amount they deduct.
They just don’t allow you to benefit from owning the value YOU CREATE THROUGH YOUR WORK.
Do you finally see it?
It isn’t complicated and the logic is inescapable.
It matters not whether you call the money received from your labor a wage or income. It is still just GROSS income. The government denies you the right to the value of your own labor, which it grants to the businesses who get its benefit.
Once you understand this you will see how the government actually views you. You are a serf. Serfs and peasants pay a tax on their wage because they are owned and bound to their master and do not own their own labor. You are taxed just like a serf.
If and when you finally understand this simple concept you will take a big step in understanding what your government actually is and who it actually serves.
You may need to read it several times but the concept is simple, elegant, and the conclusion is unavoidable. And once you see it you will be amazed you never saw it before.
She knew the law on entrapment, she wasn’t about to take any chance that I was “L.E.” She made it clear that I was only “paying for her time” what happened between us was consensual. So I went with it cause she was really my type.
The solution I propose does not deprive the government of its precious “revenue” it claims to need and that the duped peasants all imagine is “necessary”. That would be pointless. They are going to take whatever they want.
But it could ease our burden. And if nothing else, once you see how simple it is, and how they will not even do something this simple and fair, perhaps you will take another step to understanding what your government actually is.
Now back to the hole.
Remember, you can hire 10 guys to dig the ditch or you can rent a back hoe. Purchasing labor is no different than purchasing capital. They are the same.
When you buy an item the purchaser pays the tax. That is always the case. Even in a “sales tax” all the seller does is collect the tax for the government. The buyer pays the tax.
So, here is my simple solution to the sort this problem out.
MAKE THE ENTITY WHO “PURCHASES THE LABOR” PAY THE TAX.
Make the labor buyer pay the tax like the buyer always does. No more keeping track of anything. No more complex deductions etc. to try and get. You just get a check for the amount you agree to work for. And if you hire labor you pay the tax for hiring that labor.
It is that simple. “Justice” is restored and their system of rules is now consistent. We the people are no longer their serfs.
If you employ someone for 100K then they get a check for 100k. Period. The employer “wage purchaser” is on the hook for whatever the additional amount of tax the government demands on the 100k purchase.
If the employer can only afford a total outlay of 100k for “the job”, then he can only pay your whatever is left over from the calculation of what he will pay you plus whatever is owed as sales tax on that labor purchase. If the taxable rate on 75K is 33% then he can pay you 75k. Because he’s on the hook for another 25k on top when he pays the tax. So 75k plus 25k is 100k Got it?
I am normally paid in cash for tax purposes. I keep a record of course. Here’s my last case. Not bad for 2 years. Not bad.
It is simple. It doesn’t prevent the government from collecting its tribute. But it frees the people. They then own their own labor. It converts the “income tax’ into what it should be a “sales tax” on labor and wages, paid by the purchaser. I’m not saying I like the tax code and the rates, but at least this makes them make sense.
I have studied this topic for a long time. I have never seen this simple solution presented anywhere else. Not saying it hasn’t been, I’m just saying I’ve never seen it. I’ve also never heard it discussed.
Think of how much time and effort it would save you. Think of the outrages and inequities it would save.
Now of course I know they will never do this because it would eliminate the real purposes for the tax code. The control they exercise through the tax code. And the ability to strike fear into people. That, and they get to sell favors to people and to punish those who don’t properly grease the wheels of justice.
But at least I hope you now see the concept. The very simple undeniable concept that until they change the code, the government is making it clear that they own your life and time. Period.
And if you still think you are “free” and that this government is run of by and for the people, then honestly, you are so far gone into the patriotic delusion that you can’t be reached.
By continuing to deny the people the right to the value of their own work and life the government, your ruler, is sending a very clear message to those who purchase and use government to exploit the people. And that message is this:
“We have our boots on the throats of the serfs we own and they are well under control. What do you propose to pay us for the privilege you seek? We can do most anything you desire for the right price.”
So that is all for now my fellow inmate. I hope you had a great tax tribute day and gave all you should and more to your lawful master. I have given you simple but profound truths today. Do with them as you care. I am done for now.
Take care, move towards the light and tell someone the truth about the law.
And the truth shall set you free.
