Re:The IRS Sets a Trap for Cryptocurrency Tax Cheats
by nazgulnarsil on Saturday September 26, 2020 @09:38PM
(#24603518)
In aggregate it isn't a lot of money. The top 25% pay 86% of all income tax. The bottom 50% pay 3% of all income taxes.
Innumeracy among even educated people is why our policies are the mess they are.
Re:The IRS Sets a Trap for Cryptocurrency Tax Cheats
by BurningFrog on Saturday September 26, 2020 @10:54PM
(#24603849)
> In aggregate it isn't a lot of money.
You may be right.
Maybe my point is better made by saying that minor spending enforcing these taxes bring in a lot of money.
> Innumeracy among even educated people is why our policies are the mess they are.
I'd say it mostly just reflects the relative power of various interests.
If the IRS doesn't go after any kids waiting tables, no kids waiting tables will bother paying tax. And that's, in aggregate, a lot of money.
This is a similar fallacy to the idea that cops should not investigate minor crimes - say, burglaries - until it's solved all murder. If they actually do that, burglaries will effectively be legalized, and anarchy ensues.
The bigger mental trap here is I guess a failure to consider second order effects.