@georgetakei@universeodon.com and if they find out you’ve been doing it wrong for years, the fines and penalties will be more M&Ms than you’ll ever be able to pay.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com Yeah, I get it, but you have to work pretty hard to end up in prison over a failure to pay. Normally you just owe money with interest and penalty. Given the propensity of software and accountants, this is a rather distorted view, IMO. Also, there’s this public benefit for paying taxes… schools, roads, fire, police, etc.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com

LOL. If you gave them to him, they’re a nontaxable gift. If he earned them by doing chores, a small percentage comes out to pay for the infrastructure that makes life tolerable: roads, schools, public libraries, etc.

As for the self-arithmetic, it’s not that hard, unless he earned a room full of them. In which case, he can hire some to do the math. If he can’t do the math, then his schools didn’t get enough tax revenue.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com I think the big reason taxes seem so opaque is because the Federal tax code is like 17000 pages, and every level of government below the Federal has to wet is beak, too. The tax code incentivizes some behavior and disincentivizes other. It favors some ways of making money over others. It really is needlessly convoluted. I have one salaried job and no other sources of income. My withholding should match my tax burden, and that’s it. We have computers, now. It’s not hard.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com I like Ron Swanson on Parks and Rec- he took one of his girlfriend’s kid’s lunch sandwiches and told the kid “that’s taxes”.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com
Our government already has every piece of information I enter on the tax forms; Its an IQ test to see if you can put the information in the right box and you are punished if you get it wrong.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com They send you a polite letter asking you to fix it.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com
You see it’s the same way with our federal currency. The government gives you the money first then taxes it back. This is an important distinction because it goes to show that the government doesn’t need tax money to pay for policies or programs. Oh and going to jail for not paying your taxes is what gives our fiat currency its value, not the gold stored in a vault somewhere.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com Good thing those M&M taxes feed the police, or the kid would likely have the rest stolen.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com only if you start with the mini fun size bag of m&ms. If you inherit a 2lb bag, the government never checks to see if you’re doing it right.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com well mostly because the accountant lobby is making sure they still have a job

@georgetakei@universeodon.com taxes are how we pay for good roads, schools, opportunities for all… or the American model where half of every tax dollar goes towards oppressing the entire world through military might.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com And I learned if you don’t have enough taken out of your paychecks, you get a penalty, even though you are paying the right amount at tax time!

@georgetakei@universeodon.com we know exactly how many taxes we have to pay on this said of the pond, the state literally sends us prefilled modules that we have to adjust if we don’t agree (and it’s not particularly hard). What’s wrong with you 'muricans?

@georgetakei@universeodon.com I wish people would stop posting this meme. The government knows the most you might owe. Go ahead and pay that if you like but the reason you “do” taxes is to find all your deductions. Note: This in no way implies the US tax code is not f’d up.