The rich aren’t the only ones who use ‘loopholes’

To the editor:

In response to John Tominsky's Monday letter on the rich and "loopholes": As the saying goes, "A tax loophole is something that benefits the other guy."

A homeowner uses the mortgage interest and property tax loophole, but a renter does not. If the homeowners sell their home for more than they paid for it, they may not pay a tax -- another loophole.

A car owner uses the registration fee write-off loophole, but a bus rider does not. A worker may use the union dues, uniform expense or job-related expense write-off loopholes, but a retiree can't.

A person who buys non-taxable food at the grocery store doesn't pay tax, but a restaurant patron pays a sales tax. Any employee who has company-provided health insurance is taking advantage of another loophole.

Anyone who has excessive medical costs may use another loophole to write off some of those costs.

So if we use any of the loopholes above, we are "rich" and part of the criminal conspiracy? Or maybe someone needs a refresher course in taxation and economics.

Gerry Buretta

Henderson

Accounting 101

To the editor:

In regard to a number of recent letters harping on the Republicans for giving more tax breaks to billionaires, businesses and corporations, I have one request: Please give me a list of these tax breaks.

Recently, President Barack Obama was talking about eliminating tax breaks for businesses' private jets. Here is an Accounting 101 lesson to show his lack of accounting and tax knowledge.

Jets are assets used in the business that can be depreciated. They are no different than delivery trucks, cars, desks and computers, etc., which a business needs to operate. Depreciation is a tax deduction that every business can use in computing income. To eliminate depreciation for businesses would have dire consequences.

Assume a company decides to get rid of its jet. That would eliminate a few jobs -- the pilot, co-pilot and maintenance persons. Assume all companies decide to get rid of their jets because it is no longer a tax deduction. Now those companies that make jets no longer have a corporate market for their product. As surely as night follows day, they are going to lay off workers and/or go out of business.

Remember, when a business buys a depreciable asset, there is a company selling that asset. The selling company now has more funds to expand its business. Hence, tax breaks create jobs.

I hope this enlightens the non-accountants.

Albert Fisher

Las Vegas

The writer is a professor emeritus of accounting at the College of Southern Nevada.

Public opinion

To the editor:

In Saturday's Review-Journal, there was a short letter from Robert Bowen apparently objecting to the verdict in the Casey Anthony case. He calls the jurors dumb because they did not understand the meaning of the phrase "reasonable doubt."

In fact, it appears that the jurors understood this phrase very well and felt that there was reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Casey Anthony. Thank God for the justice system in this country, where guilt is determined by a jury and not by the media, for example Nancy Grace, and not by public opinion, which is totally shaped by the media.

Walter F. Wegst

Las Vegas

Cutting game

To the editor:

It was 30 years ago on July 4 that I became a citizen of these United States. Every so often, I read about those "wascally wepublicans" cutting Medicare and Social Security, yet every year we spend more on both. So after reading the Saturday letter from Gerald A. Sanchez Sr., I went to the oracle: Richard S. Foster, chief actuary with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who published the "Estimated Financial Effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" -- aka ObamaCare.

Mr. Foster estimates that ObamaCare cuts $575 billion (yes, that's billion with a "b") from Medicare over 10 years. Not a single Republican voted for ObamaCare.

Now who's cutting Medicare?

Bill Kelly

Henderson

Pledge drive

To the editor:

In response to the July 1 letter from Jane Olive about being able to pay into the national debt, I just wish everyone would get on the bandwagon and send what they could afford to lower this debt before the August deadline.

We make contributions to so many worthy causes, and this cause is more important than most of them. This is a crisis. The integrity of our country is at stake.

Please send your contributions to Department G, Bureau of the Public Debt, P.O. Box 2188, Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188. I will do my part.

Dorothy Thuet

Las Vegas

Tax rates

To the editor:

Thank you for the compilation of Las Vegas CEO 2010 compensation (Sunday Review-Journal). Every justification for not letting the reduced income tax rates for the wealthy expire includes the argument that if we allow them to expire, the "small business" owners would not create jobs.

Why is it that CEOs and other corporate executives get the same benefit but are never included in the justification?

Doug Fleckner

Las Vegas