Tax the untaxed to balance budget

It’s time politicians stop debating whether to raise taxes instead of finding a way to tax those income earners who pay little or no taxes.

I’m talking about the criminals such as drug dealers that have fabulous wealth and reap the benefits of our highways, schools and health care, yet pay zero taxes. Next are the corporations such as GE that pay no taxes, all the foreign corporations that pay about 1 percent taxes on their profits, our billionaires who register their yachts in foreign countries to avoid our taxes, and the phony business write-offs of lavish trips, parties, entertainment, planes and yachts.

Next is the trillions of dollars of so-called subterranean income. I’m talking about the unregistered and cash only businesses and service people such as tradesmen, landscapers, hairdressers, nannies, cleaning services — the list is endless. These people pay no taxes or understate their true income yet live in nice homes and can afford exotic vacations and other extravagances.

Finally are the numerous charities that take in billions tax free then pay their executives highly and spend on benefits that do little if anything to help the needy.

It seems to me that only the working stiffs that have taxes withheld from their paychecks and the legitimate businesses that remit these taxes pay the overwhelming burden of our taxes. Why debate ways to tax them further and not discuss how to collect taxes from the cheaters? Why spend all this political effort on finding a way to tax the overtaxed? If the above mentioned tax avoiders were taxed as legitimate workers and businesses are, there would be no problems with our budget or deficits.

Robert W. Kuechenberg

Palatine