Bill would require drug test to claim high-dollar tax deduction

[Benton]

(06-20-2016, 07:10 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So we can agree that those that earn more money pay more taxes. Sure, just like everyone else they will look for deductions; but they are not costing the government money the way those who only take do.  

Honestly, I haven't ever read a study or enough material that satisfied my questions in that regard.

Take WalMart.

http://ftmdaily.com/daily-briefing/is-now-a-good-time-to-invest-in-walmart/

Quote: Since 2009, the company has increased its earnings per share by 59% and its free-cash-flow by 123%. During that same time, the company has returned $60 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

...

Wal-Mart became a publicly traded company in 1970. Let’s say that you decided back in the summer of 1971 to toss $100 into Wal-Mart stock. If you had held that stock until today, your original $100 investment would now be worth an astounding $315,105.28! (And this is assuming that you did not reinvest your dividends, but instead, took them as a cash distribution.) If you would have had the foresight to invest say $5,000 back then, your Wal-mart stock would now be worth a cool $15.7 million! (You can use this handy calculator to come up with your own “what-ifs” with Wal-Mart’s stock)

Which is great. If part of your portfolio comes from WalMart (full disclosure, I own some WalMart stocks so I'm guilty of the last point), you most likely made money off of that. If you earned enough money off of it, you might even be able to shelter it or get loopholes to keep a sizable chunk of it.

The problem is, that per share earning increase came at a cost of an annual $6 billion to taxpayers in the form of employee social aide  (link below). That's not even including any taxes WalMart didn't pay, like the $80 billion it's got overseas in tax shelters. That's over $100 billion in tax dollars to keep the company increasing its share value, so indirectly anyone who owns shares is having an impact on the government in the same way as those who only take.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/04/15/report-walmart-workers-cost-taxpayers-6-2-billion-in-public-assistance/#363df1d47cd8