[Street] Tax Day -Ultra Working Group?!
Daria Casinelli
casinellidaria at gmail.com
Mon Feb 20 17:27:39 EST 2012
>From George Lee:
FYI Right to the City, the coalition that did the major action on September
30 against Bank of America, is holding a major action on Tuesday, April 17
(tax day this year). I hope folks can support that event.
Peace, community, justice,
- George
On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 2:37 PM, Aria Littlhous <casinellidaria at gmail.com>wrote:
> Occupy JP is proposing to form an Intra-Occupy Tax Day Working Group.
> Please contact us if you would like to participate! There are two
> important issues to resolve immediately:
>
> *What are our demands?
> *What about the Tea Party Rally at the Boston Common Bandstand on
> 4/15?
>
> Details below. We welcome your comments and input. Eight weeks and
> counting.
>
> A.
>
> Our two discussions have included a report back on information already
> gathered, things to think about and two possible draft demands to get
> the ball rolling.
>
> Draft Demand:
>
> 1. The gargantuan and labyrinthine nature of the tax code inherently
> favors taxpayers wealthy enough to hire lawyers. Occupy JP instructs
> our legislators to radically simplify the tax code this year. The
> Congress works for the people, the tax code should too.
>
>
>
> 2. Occupy JP supports the proposal of our National Taxpayer Advocate,
> Nina E. Olson, to Zero Sum Budget Title 26 as outlined part IV of her
> testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on 1/20/11. We
> instruct our legislators to paass her proposal this year. The Congress
> works for the people, the tax code should too.
>
> Part IV: A Zero-Based Budgeting Approach Could Assist Congress in
> Deciding Which Tax Breaks and IRS-Administered Social Programs to
> Retain and Which to Eliminate.
> My suggestion is to approach tax reform in a manner similar to zero-
> based budgeting. Under that approach, the starting point would be a
> tax code without any exclusions or reductions in income or tax. As
> discussions proceed, tax breaks and IRS-administered social programs
> would be added only if lawmakers decide on balance that the public
> policy benefits of running the provision or program through the tax
> code outweigh the tax complexity challenges that doing so creates for
> taxpayers and the IRS. Some tax provisions and programs will meet this
> test, while others will not. Factors to consider in making this
> assessment include whether the government continues to place a
> priority on encouraging the activity for which the tax incentive is
> provided, whether the incentive is accomplishing its intended purpose,
> and whether a tax expenditure is more effective than a direct
> expenditure for achieving that purpose.47
>
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/nta_testimony_waysandmeans_01202011.pdf
>
> Note: Although getting a legislative demand as specific at #2 through
> any GA would be difficult, the advantages of supporting Ms. N.O.’s
> proposal are many: it’s a good proposal, she’s non-partisan, it’s
> already in the system, she has cool initials.
>
> Other
>
> We’ve contacted the New England War Tax Resisters. They will be
> announcing the grants they award from a fund set up from the proceeds
> of resistance on 4/15. They will get back to us about a possible
> collaboration.
>
> Senator John Kerry will get back to us about where Ms. No!’s proposal
> stands now.
>
> We will contact the advocacy group Uncut and see where they’re at.
>
> The deadline for filing taxes is midnight April 17. The media
> traditionally interviews late filers at the Fort Point Post Office, a
> great place for kites.
>
> Thanks. We look forward to hearing from you.
>
> O! JP!
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/private/street/attachments/20120220/fc69a7ed/attachment-0001.htm>
More information about the Street
mailing list