Federal Income Tax on Non-Profits?

The nonprofit industry includes over 1 million organizations across the US with combined annual revenue of more than $1 trillions. Major organizations include Goodwill Industries, Ascension Health, National Cancer Institute, New York University, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The industry is highly fragmented: large organizations with assets of $10 millions or more represent just 6 percent of the industry but account for more than 80 percent of the sector's total annual revenue. A modest annual federal income tax of 2% on those organizations with + $10 millions in assets would thus generate in the neighborhood of $16 billions. A more realistic tax similar to the "corporate income tax rates" would generate some $272 Billions. That's roughly equivalent to 5 times the total annual budget for the State of Illinois. These companies pay Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare taxes. They pay other federal taxes. Why not an income tax?

Talk About Your Marriage Penalties!

We have a question for the Obamaites:

If "the rich" are now to be those earning over $200,000 per year and we must spread around more of their wealth, then shouldn't the married couple be deemed rich at the $400,000 level?

Where did this $250,000 for a family come from?

Talk about a marriage penalty! It could hold down the incidence of gay marriage.

It simply points out how ridiculous arbitrary tax brackets are and reminds us of their unintended consequences.

By the way, why is it that when the government wants money it's always indexed to inflation (via percentages of income) but the deductions/credits are always based on firm numbers?

Internet Can Enhance Local Government Transparency

The Union Leader in Manchester, N.H. (that bastion of anti-tax sentiment - "Live Free or Die") has an interesting article sounding notes ever more frequently heard across the country on transparency in government and how the internet can help:

Corruption can't flourish with someone watching over your shoulder. In government, that transparency is doubly important. Every government expenditure is made with money taken from people's pockets. Government has an obligation to explain to each of us why it took our money and what exactly it's doing with it . . .

Modern technology has created tools to make even the smallest details of government accessible to everyone. One hundred years ago, opening the books to public inspection would have been burdensome and impractical in all but the smallest of towns. But the Internet has changed that and created a national movement toward government transparency.

. . . Missouri's Web site, www.mapyourtaxes.mo.gov, is a good example of what's possible . . .

The general idea is to list online every government expenditure by name, date and amount . . . A transparency Web site is designed to show not just how much government is spending but the details of what our money is being spent on. Every person, company and amount will be listed so we know who received the money taken from us and what exactly it was for.

Knowing what is happening doesn't necessarily dictate a policy decision. That's why the transparency movement is being encouraged by both Grover Norquist, the most influential conservative taxpayer advocate, and Ralph Nader, longtime liberal consumer advocate.

For smaller towns, this task is relatively simple. Every transaction can be posted online. Credit card statements can be posted in their entirety so we know each charge, regardless of size.

Not everyone will bother checking the town Web site. But in each town there are a few dedicated souls who concern themselves with every little detail of government. Opening up the details to their eyes lets everyone know that someone's watching. That very transparency should keep anything from happening in all but the most extreme cases . . .

Sometimes leadership filters up. Once a few cities and towns start opening the doors of their government to the people, state government might start talking about it.

Unfortunately, today state government can't even tell us how much it spends in total on a regular basis . . . A little kick-start from the towns might be in order.

Or from the counties.

Illinois Tax Payers Pay for Open-Source Bias.

The Microsoft fact in Illinois by ZDNet's Paul Murphy -- The Illinois study is one of eight documents from the Microsoft web site, all intended to sell IT managers on the idea that a small commitment to Microsoft can be leveraged to produce significant budget and span of control gains.