Post A Reply
my profile
login
|
register
|
search
|
faq
|
forum home
»
Allstocks.com's Bulletin Board
»
Off-Topic Post, Non Stock Talk
»
Gay marriage opponents vow to fight Calif. ruling
» Post A Reply
Post A Reply
Login Name:
Password:
Message Icon:
Message:
HTML is enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Bigfoot: [QB] Ho-tay, As to taxes. These are the major tax breaks for spouses that you want to keep away from gay couples. [QUOTE] [b] Good benefits add to wedded bliss[/b] For most middle- and upper-income people, though, there are plenty of financial benefits to marriage, regardless of their income tax situation. Among them: [b] Workplace health and pension benefits coverage.[/b] While some companies offer health coverage to domestic partners, this benefit is typically taxable as income. When spouses are covered, the benefit is tax-free. [b] Social Security retirement and survivor benefits.[/b] A husband or wife is entitled to one-half of the spouses Social Security benefits and to additional benefits in the event of death. [b] Lower insurance rates.[/b] Married people usually get a discount on auto insurance and may pay less for other types of insurance. [b] Automatic inheritance rights.[/b] Die without a will, and your spouse gets your stuff. In many states, the surviving spouse has a legal right to at least one-third to one-half of your estate. [b] Preferential estate tax treatment.[/b] The $1 million estate tax limitation doesnt apply to married people: you can leave an unlimited amount to a spouse without owing one penny of estate tax. In certain states, this benefit is multiplied by special capital-gains tax treatment for homes and other assets held by married couples as community property. [/QUOTE] http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/taxes/p48908.asp This is what we are withholding with such rancor??? Non-taxable health benefits? Why should this be the domain of hetero couples only? (Besides...if we switch to a national healthcare plan - which is likely given our odds of having a democratic president/congress/senate next year - this becomes a non-issue.) Survivorship benefits in Social Security? In a duel income family (which would include nearly all gay couples) the surviving widow chooses between his/her own social security plan or the survivorship rate of the deceased, depending on which one is higher. This means that there would be little to no substantive difference in giving gay couples this benefit. Remember also divorce (which happens in 50% of all marriages and would likely continue the average within gay partnerships) and remarriage DO affect survivor benefit elligibility which would create even less of an impact to the program. Lower Insurance Rates? This is irrelevant as it is driven by the statistics gathered by insurance companies and voluntarily offered. They will create a new statistical category if gay couples are given status and adjust their rates based on the statistical evidence. Automatic inheritance? Write out a will and this is a non-issue. It is mearly one less hoop to jump through. It has little impact. Preferential Estate tax treatment? This is the only marriage benefit that has any significant value to my mind. And it is funny because the many of the folks who are fighting not to give this benefit to gay couples are the ones complaining how high the tax is regaring their children. The inheritance tax really only matters if the deceased is wealthy and then we get into a whole set of issues that trancend sexual orientation. If we are going to have an inheritance tax then I don't think relationship should really matter. Put a 1 Mil cap (yearly adjusted for inflation) on everyone or else do away with it completely. Really not worth the paperwork headache to my mind. P.S. (I kept income tax brakes out of this example because it has been researched and proven that income tax break are only beneficial if there is a large disparity in income between the two partners. Further the closer the two are in income the benefit actually becomes a liability to a certain extent. It is unlikely to truely help the majority of gay couples. So there you have it PM. Your big list of marriage benefits that you are trying to keep from those damned gay people. Why don't you just admit that you beleve you are more deserving than they are and that this has nothing to do with numbers? [/QB][/QUOTE]
Instant Graemlins
Instant UBB Code™
What is UBB Code™?
Options
Disable Graemlins in this post.
*** Click here to review this topic. ***
Contact Us
|
Allstocks.com Message Board Home
© 1997 - 2021 Allstocks.com. All rights reserved.
Powered by
Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2