You don't need a weatherman...

... to know which way the wind blows.

This is something that I have been predicting for years. Namely, that the IRS is gonna start an Ebay project:

Dale

 

One of the things that always made me cringe in tax law class was that my professor, a former IRS employee, would refer to any sort of deductions, allowances, untaxed monies or transactions as "lost revenue."

"Why do we allow lost revenue for this?" he would ask. I always made a point to say to myself and those sitting around me, "it's not 'lost revenue' - it's money you keep because you earned it."

 

Yep...it's coming. You know States are trying to figure out how to stem lost sales tax revenue from online sales as well.

It's going to come down to doing away with paper money. Paper money means man hours. Lot's of work to track it, try to find it, follow it and eventually tax it. If ALL transactions are electronic then it's not so easy to hide on purpose and impossible to forget reporting "accidentally' and MUCH easier to monitor. You scalp your game tickets and make a buck...you'll get taxed.

And the best part is...they're gonna do it by making paper money the bad guy. That's right! I can see the ad campaign now. "Paper money is filthy money...it's for drug dealers, prostitutes and terrorists." I say terrorists because I believe when they kill the paper dollar they'll justify it by playing the Homeland Defense card.

I hear those gentle carribean breezes calling.

 

It's already started. See the Visa commercial where everyone uses cards quickly and efficiently and the guy who uses cash brings the restaurant to it's knees. Give it 10 years from now and most cash will be 'obsolete'.

 

Bingo.

 

They are trying to get rid of online gambling as well because you do not have to record those earnings.

 

I love cash. I definitely feel superior to others when I use it at a store, especially when peeling off 100s while paying for grocery shopping.

RMX

 

LOL... hunger cravings gone up a bit since dropping the smokes?

 

Holy crap, I've gained at least 15 pounds. It has to be at least 15...

Typical grocery shopping for the 2 of us + the dogs runs around $225 every 20 days or so.

RMX

 

Already happening at the state level. On line gambling is now a FELONY in Washington state! The real problem with on line gambling (from the IRS's piont of view) is that all the banking is being done off-shore. Off-shore equals no US taxes!!

 

Exactly. I guess i should cash out.