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Bill Gates' Taxes Require Special Computer
NightWulf writes "News AU claims Bill Gates said in an interview, his fortune is so big, that the IRS needs a special computer, because a normal one can't handle the numbers. The IRS must have had to switch from PC's to Macs just for Gates."
I have an idea, if your fortune gets to be so large that even the IRS can't figure it all out, you should be required to give some of it away to the poor until they can do the necessary calculations.
Part of the problem is likely that Gates gives so much to the poor already. He's the richest man in the world, but name someone that gives more money to the poor than he.
I'm a big tall mofo.
You can sneer at his wealth all you want but he has already founded the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the world's largest charitable foundation. That's a good thing.
I highly doubt it. Billy may be the richest man in the world, but the IRS - frequently - deals with large numbers ranging in the billions and trillions. Considering the IRS does consolidation reports to report to their bosses - so their bosses can say "This year, Americans earned XYZ dollars". Billy G is a drop in the hat...yea larger then what we put in the hat...by an insane amount....but still a drop in the bucket.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
There's an old one out there about Nelson Rockefeller, whose dyslexia was so bad that papers had to be numbered "Page One, Two, Three" etc. When asked how he filed his tax returns, he laughed and said "son, I have five floors of accountants just for that." ...granted, I imagine there's more literal truth to that story than this one.
We had to modify our payroll system in 1987 to be able to cut a check with 8 digits to the left of the decimal for one broker.
Don't forget the enormous amount of money he donates to the WHO, not to mention paying for immunizations for hundreds of thousands of American kids. The Gates have become world-class philanthropists, and yet they get almost no credit for it. Humility in charity is an impressive thing.
Some of the value fields may be limited to 10 digits for personal taxes, and his (along with anyone else with assets/income over 9 billion dollars) simply don't fit in the fields. It's not like the IRS Personal Tax Software adds up all 2 trillion dollars together in a single field.
Obviously the corporate tax software architecture can handle larger numbers than the personal tax software, very believable from a software architecture that dates back to the late 60's.
There is no state income tax in Washington... so no worries there.
Exxon-Mobile just posted a quarterly profit of 10^10$, up from 9.9x10^9$ in the prior quarter. Each of these figures was a record setter.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Who cares? The reason people who don't make any money aren't audited are that they don't make much money and they have simple 1040EZ taxes. There isn't much there to be suspicious of, and there is even less to double check.
I think the IRS should autocompute your taxes based on the information that companies send them about pay, interest, etc, and send you a summary in January. If there is nothing to do, just sit on it and your check/bill will come in April, or sign and return it (go to a website, etc) and get your refund check immediately. Otherwise you have until the normal reporting time to submit a form with deductions and/or a separate form for additional income not reported yet.
Now, this could be even simpler if the government would simply do away with all deductions and simplify the tax code. If the government wants to encourage people to go to college then they can give money to those people in ways other than a tax credit, or just give money directly to schools.
A simpler tax system would be:
No tax on the first 20,000 you make.
X% for the next 20K,
1.2*X% for the next 20K,
1.5*X% for the next 20K.
2*X% for the rest of your income.
The value of X is determined by that years spending. If the government spends 1 Trillion simoleons in 2004, the taxes for that year need to sum to 1 Trillion simoleons. This will put a lot of pressure on congress to only spend the amount needed, and it will make congressmen very wary of each others pork, because the bill for that huge bridge in Alaska will be paid by people outside of Alaska, and they will directly see the cost.
Finally, the IRS should provide a line item summary or receipt for each person who files their taxes. It should show the total amount of the taxes paid by that person for every line item in the federal budget (within reason). In other words, somewhere in the receipt for Joe Jackson in Mississippi, who paid $2500 in federal taxes this year, will be a line reading
"John Wastemore Memorial Bridge to Nowhere -- $4.25" and another reading
"Study on the effects of hormone injections with regard to the breeding practices of freshwater farm raised catfish -- $0.13" and even
"Preparation of receipts for every person filing taxes in previous fiscal year -- $1.03"
Because flat taxes with no other means of compensation make the rich richer and the poor poorer, and a strong and well populated middle class is the base for any stable political system.
To do list for Windows
Your answer IS BS.
Your answer presumes that Chuck Norris pays taxes. He is the only American that is able to scare the tax man away, simply by scaring him down. I hear Chuck doesn't even get mail (let alone the tax form delivered to his house). They have to use one of those remote controlled police SWAT robots to devlier his mail.
Too far? Yeah, I know. But Chuck doesn't know where I live..... (hope not!!).