“I think that for the next short period of time, our No. 1 priority is Congress needs to do its work and extend the payroll tax cut.” ThinkingNeedsNextCuttingPeriodsTaxesCongressPrioritiesTax CutsPayrollPayroll Tax Author:Jacob Lew
“I hold that two principles are important; first that there should be a steady expansion of public services, not an irregular one related to revenue accruing in any particular year; the second that taxes should be constant over long periods (provided, that is, that they are neither burdensome nor inequitable).” ShouldYearsFirstsLongTwoImportantPrinciplesParticularPeriodsTaxesConstantRelatedSteadyExpansionRevenuePublic Service Author:John James Cowperthwaite
“During the socialist period, the government became too big. That created a crowding-out effect in the private economy, and it gave everybody the need to pay more taxes in order to finance this big government. We are against big government. We want a smaller and more efficient government.” WantNeedsBigsGovernmentOrderPayEconomyEffectsPeriodsTaxesFinanceEfficientSocialistBig Government Author:Antonis Samaras
“The zero-income-tax-rate states have far faster growth in tax revenues than did the states with highest income tax rate over this period.” StatesGrowthPeriodsTaxesHighestRateIncomeFasterZeroRevenueIncome Tax Author:Arthur Laffer
“There are several states that move from Karl Marx-like policies to Adam Smith-like policies and back again in a weekend. So for the states with huge volatility in their income tax policies over time, the differences in growth rates in those periods are really amazingly consistent with tax rates really mattering.” StatesMovingGrowthDifferencesPolicyHugePeriodsTaxesRateIncomeConsistentWeekendAdamIncome TaxBack AgainReally AmazingVolatility Author:Arthur Laffer
“When you look at the results on an after-fee, after-tax basis over reasonably long periods of time, there's almost no chance that you end up beating the index fund.” LooksLongEndsChanceResultsPeriodsTaxesBasesInvestingFundFeesLong Periods Of TimeIndex Funds Author:David F. Swensen
“It is one of the many ironies of this period that, at a time when the intelligentsia were excoriating Mellon for tax-evasion, and contrasting the smooth-running Soviet planned economy with the breakdown in America, he was secretly exploiting the frantic necessities of the Soviet leaders to form the basis of one of America's most splendid public collections” RunningAmericaFormLeaderEconomyPeriodsTaxesBasesIronyCollectionsSovietSmoothPhilanthropySplendidBreakdownFranticEvasionTax Evasion Book:Modern times: the world from the twenties to the nineties Source: Modern times: the world from the twenties to the nineties
“Reform immigration to make it easy for individuals to come over here, be documented, pay taxes - immigration reform is needed to state that its about work, its not about welfare... Set up a grace period where they can get a work permit... social security card so that they can pay income tax, social security, Medicare.” StatesIndividualSocialEasyPayGraceSecurityNeededPeriodsTaxesImmigrationIncomeCardsReformWelfarePermitSocial SecurityIncome TaxMedicareImmigration Reform Author:Gary Johnson
“It makes no difference to a widow with her savings in a 5 percent passbook account whether she pays 100 percent income tax on her interest income during a period of zero inflation or pays no income tax during years of 5 percent inflation. Either way, she is 'taxed' in a manner that leaves her no real income whatsoever. Any money she spends comes right out of capital. She would find outrageous a 100 percent income tax but doesn't seem to notice that 5 percent inflation is the economic equivalent.” WayYearsRealSeemsInterestDifferencesPayEconomicPeriodsTaxesPercentAccountsIncomeSavingZeroInflationSavingsOutrageousWidowsIncome Tax Author:Warren Buffett
“A realistic definition of risk recognizes the potential loss of capital through inflation and taxes, and would include at least the following two factors: The probability that the investment you chose will preserve your capital over the time you intend to invest your funds. The probability the investments you select will outperform alternative investments for this period.” TwoLossRiskPeriodsTaxesInvestmentDefinitionsFollowingFactorsAlternativesPreservesFundRealisticProbabilityInflationSelect Book:Contrarian Investment Strategies in the Next Generation Source: Contrarian Investment Strategies in the Next Generation
“The lawyers have escaped most criticism [and undeservedly so]. The tax shelters [were approved by lawyers, who got paid huge commissions to do so] and every miscreant had a high-falutin' lawyer at his side. Why don't more law firms vote with their feet and not take clients who have signs on them that say, "I'm a skunk and will be hard to handle?" I've noticed that firms that avoid trouble over long periods of time have an institutional process that tunes bad clients out. Boy, if I were running a law firm, I'd want a system like that because a lot of firms have a lot of bad clients.” IfsWantLongHardRunningLawProcessSidesBoysTroubleFeetHugePeriodsTaxesCriticismVotePaidLawyerHandleFirmTunesShelterClientsApprovedLong Periods Of TimeLaw FirmsHard To Handle Author:Charlie Munger
“If you're going to buy something which compounds for 30 years at 15% per annum and you pay one 35% tax at the very end, the way that works out is that after taxes, you keep 13.3% per annum. In contrast, if you bought the same investment, but had to pay taxes every year of 35% out of the 15% that you earned, then your return would be 15% minus 35% of 15%-or only 9.75% per year compounded. So the difference there is over 3.5%. And what 3.5% does to the numbers over long holding periods like 30 years is truly eye-opening.” IfsWayYearsLongDoeEndsWould BeEyeDifferencesNumbersPayReturnPeriodsTaxesInvestmentWork OutOpeningContrastCompoundsMinusEye Opening Author:Charlie Munger
“It seems to me that instead of cutting taxes, we ought to be increasing the taxes to pay off the deficit, rather than let that thing build up to the point where our grandchildren's grandchildren are going to be paying for our period of time and our years at the helm.” YearsSeemsPayCuttingOughtPeriodsTaxesGrandchildrenDeficitHelm Author:Walter Cronkite
“Consider how badly-built suburbia is. Many business buildings are not designed to outlast their tax depreciation periods, and the McHouses are made of particle board, vinyl siding, and stapled-on trim. A lot of suburbia will simply become the slums of the future. Most of the rest will be salvage or ruins.” MadeBuildingPeriodsTaxesBuiltRuinsBoardsParticlesSlumsVinylSalvageSuburbiaDepreciationSiding Author:James Howard Kunstler
“As a matter of policy, increasing taxes on the most economically productive group, which already generates 60 percent of the nation's federal revenues, during a sustained period of economic doldrums is a wretched idea.” IdeasMatterNationsGroupsEconomicPolicyPeriodsTaxesPercentProductiveRevenueWretchedDoldrums Author:John Podhoretz