Consider how much taxes inflate the price of consumer goods. You have an entire supply chain, from natural resource to reaching the shelf as a finished product. Each company along the way is taxed as they acquire the goods, as they pay their employees, and as they profit from a transaction. This cycle continues over and over until a finished product hits a consumer shelf. At which point, it’s taxed again when purchased by income that has already been taxed.


I’m not sure how you would run the numbers, but I’d imagine most prices are inflated by taxes, more than 50% by the time they reach the consumer.

My favorite is paying a tax on a tax refund you got for paying too much tax, as Alabama requires you to report any Federal refund as income.

And don't get me started on the occupational taxes, which are a form of taxation without representation for a lot of people. Oh, and the City of Birmingham is still taking 1% of my wages every pay period, even though I've been working from home (in Cullman) since last March.

Did you know that in Alabama you're required to pay taxes on "embezzled or other illegal income?" It says so right there on the Department of Revenue website.

Alabama Department of Revenue

Failure to pay taxes are what brought down Al Capone supposedly.

The government says they want to help low wage workers by raising the minimum wage to $15/hour but even at the current minimum wage working full time you would have to pay some income tax. Just think about how much more tax revenue the government will get with the average "has a pulse and is breathing" worker is making $30K/year. That seems like a clear conflict of interest when the law makers are essentially voting more money for the govenment which as usual will ultimately come out of our pockets as higher commodity prices. If the government really wanted to help the disadvantaged worker they would raise the minimum tax filing wage to be above the poverty line.

Hoes and Blow. Neither one collects a sales tax when sold.

You are correct.........Illegal's don't pay taxes

I’ve always said the only REAL reason prostitution and recreational drugs are illegal is because they can’t figure out a way to tax it. Heck, even look at moonshine. I never could figure that one out. A fellow pays tax on the ingredients and the equipment it takes to make it, and then they call it illegal because they don’t get their share of the tax on the finished product.

Thats hilarious! If you don’t want to pay taxes on your food then go to your local farmers market.

When you die they tax the money that you are trying to leave to your kids.

I'm hoping the jury is still out on the Occupation Tax. I'm hoping that's why we are having to add the "Telecommuting" to our timesheets. Otherwise, why don't we pay occupational tax to Atlanta? Isn't that where the company is technically located?

That's what I'm thinking too. They needed a way to track it.

Well I don't mind giving God the 10% tithe and a decent offering to go with it, but Ceasar, He's one greedy SOB.

As mentioned by someone already, take a product and follow the tax trail from raw material to product in a retail store. It doesn't end there either. You pay sales tax and possibly a tax on the disposal when it's used up.

Just wait till you retire. Then they tax your Social Security, Pension and your 401k when you withdraw from it. I pay more taxes now than I have in my life. I have no tax right offs but my church tithes.

Uou might aught to start a small business and lose a bunch of money every year on paper.

Or go rent a 50 acre pasture get you some cows.

I prefer a consumer tax, it doesn’t discriminate and everyone pays regardless of how their income was made.

If every American citizen had to stroke a check to Uncle Sam every April there would be a revolution in this country.

Unfortunately I’m disabled. Very limited to what I can do because of health issues.