In God we trust

[The_BlauerDragon]

[quote name='Altherion' post='1728674' date='Mar 21 2009, 12.27']Would [i]you[/i] like to be politician who introduces the law to tax non-profits? I wouldn't. It's a historical artifact that we are pretty much stuck with -- starting to tax them now would result in a cataclysm that nobody wants to see. Harvard & Co. would be extremely annoyed, but they'd survive. I doubt the same is true of the smaller colleges, hospitals and such, particularly if you taxed not only the endowment, but also the property they own.

That said, as far as I can tell, anytime they actually want to use that money it gets taxed. Any salary they pay is subject to income tax, any property they buy is subject to sales tax and so on. It's just the stuff that's not owned by any individual that doesn't get taxed.[/quote]
The following is strictly my opinion (apparently that needs to be said):
I agree. Taxing them would [u]not[/u] be an easy thing. On the other hand, many of them also receive massive amounts of assistance. I can't speak for hospitals and such, but most public Universities receive tax subsidies that amount to thousands of dollars per student. Meanwhile, private (for profit) Universities do not receive the same and have to compete with the public Universities when it comes to tuition prices and such. This would all be well and good, but (in my opinion) the private Universities are providing a vastly superior education (often for the same {or similar} prices). So it begs the question, is there some room in the tax structure to tighten the gaps and force some of the wasteful spending to be halted?

Also, would anyone here support the idea of re-writing the entire U.S. tax code (from top to bottom)? I would. I don't see the graduated income tax system as being particularly effective to begin with. When you add to that the fact that the majority U.S. tax code was originally meant to be a temporary (and voluntary) thing, and has been slowly amended and added onto over time. What you end up with is a convoluted mess with hundreds of loopholes and many layers of complex redundancies. In order to reduce the cost of enforcing taxation, to balance the tax system, and to make the entire Internal Revenue Service function more efficiently, wouldn't it be prudent to sit down and re-write the entire thing from scratch?

[Matrim Fox Cauthon]

[quote name='Altherion' post='1728674' date='Mar 21 2009, 15.27']I doubt the same is true of the smaller colleges, hospitals and such, particularly if you taxed not only the endowment, but also the property they own.[/quote]NPOs actually have to apply for tax-exempt status at the federal and state level, and even then they may not be exempt from all taxes. So while an NPO may apply to be exempt from paying a federal or state income tax, they may still have to pay the state a property tax.

[Iskaral Pust]

[quote name='Altherion' post='1728674' date='Mar 21 2009, 15.27']Would [i]you[/i] like to be politician who introduces the law to tax non-profits?[/quote]

It was proposed recently by a Washington politician. I forget who. It is not beyond belief. A few more exposes of crooked charities, references to the Harvard and Yale endowments and let the current blue supremacy in the culture war offset the outrage of the churchy types, and this could actually happen.


We are in dire need of serious tax reform, and it has been proposed and deferred many times. Sooner or later it has to happen, and this topic will at least be on the table.

[Stego]

[quote name='Matrim Fox Cauthon' post='1728699' date='Mar 21 2009, 16.04']NPOs actually have to apply for tax-exempt status at the federal and state level, and even then they may not be exempt from all taxes. So while an NPO may apply to be exempt from paying a federal or state income tax, they may still have to pay the state a property tax.[/quote]




It all depends on how big their bribes are.


Churches are criminal organizations. But I do not blame charities for copying them. It's a great scam.

[Matrim Fox Cauthon]

[quote name='Stego' post='1728761' date='Mar 21 2009, 17.14']It all depends on how big their bribes are.

[b]Churches are criminal organizations. But I do not blame charities for copying them. It's a great scam.[/b][/quote]Stego, you are much smarter than that, but you let your negative feelings towards the church cloud your sense of objectivity as well as your rationality.