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Over the past few months, I was talking about one of the unavoidable parts of life. That being death. So here is a short comparison about the other inevitable part of life. Here are the taxes of the Philippines versus the USA.

Sa Philippines, we have the following taxes according to the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenues: Capital Gains Tax, Documentary Stamp Tax, Donor’s Tax, Estate Tax, Income Tax, Percentage Tax, Value-Added Tax, Withholding Tax, and Excise Tax. That is a total of 9 taxes. I may have missed a few though.

Now let us turn to the USA tax system. If you want to read up on the History of the US Tax System, please visit the US Department of the Treasury.

The list of taxes are Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL license Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel permit tax, Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon+), Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Interest expense, Inventory tax, IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road usage taxes, Sales Tax, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone federal excise tax, Telephone federal universal service fee tax, Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes, Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax, Telephone state and local tax, Telephone usage charge tax, Utility Taxes, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, and Workers Compensation Tax. That adds up to 44 taxes in all and I likely missed a few. Oh yeah, I forgot the Inflationary Tax. Whew! Graveehhh andami!

Did I mention they are trying to create and pass another massive tax on top of that? It is called Cap & Trade which would impose a massive burden on businesses and the consumers rising the cost of fuel by $1.50 a gallon and cripple the economy in order to “save us from global warming” when the global temperatures are dropping. When it is necessary to be competitive in the global economy, making it more expensive to do business doesn’t attract business but drive it and the jobs away.

Here is a lovely concept on top of all of the above. Not one of those taxes existed 100 years ago when the USA was the most prosperous in the world. There was absolutely no national debt, a large middle class, and only one parent needed to work.

Now, you need to work 3 jobs between 2 people (on average) while raising a family on your own to try and make all of the ends meet. The USA national debt is around $10 trillion and they can’t balance their budget yet. There is a simple rule of thumb for all and most of us know it especially in the Philippines. You do not spend more than you make unless you put yourself into slavery to those who you owe debts to.

Here are the USA Debt and Savings Clocks. When you look at it, you need to remember one key detail. Like I mentioned yesterday, the Baby Boomers are starting to retire. The Social Security Trust and the Medicare / Medicaid are expected to plummet sharply as a result of the decreased number of taxpayers. That will leave the USA with $53 trillion in debt with the IOUs, General Fund, and promised payments in SS, Medicare and Medicaid factored in and a smaller tax base to work with.

Alam ba ninyo na this $53 trillion bill is to be paid by us and our children?

Thank you,

Anah

Photo credits from http://ivo.co.za

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