HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bills@sequent.com (Bill Sears)
Subject: Re: Is paying income tax voluntary?
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 23:05:14 GMT

In article <9207302001.AA05543@logdis1.oo.aflc.af.mil> rdyreng@logdis1.oo.aflc.af.mil (Russell I. Dyreng;OO-ALC/LILEE) writes:
>
>The State of Washington levies no personal income taxes against its
>citizens.  They do however have a pretty hefty sales tax.  Furthermore
>the State of Oregon levies no sales taxes.  Several people I know have
>theorized that one could live and work in or around the city of
>Vancover, WA, thereby avoiding state income taxes and then cross the
>Columbia River to shop in and around Portland, OR without paying any
>sales taxes.
>
>Any Washingtonions/Oregonians/Vancouver(WA)ites/Portland(OR)ers out
>there who can either verify or shoot holes in this theory?

This does happen to a certain extent.  Mostly on small and medium
ticket items like housewares, electronics, etc.  For big ticket items,
where the sales tax savings would make a big difference, they have
ways of cracking down on it.  For example, if you purchase a car in
Oregon, and try to license it in WA, they will ding you for the sales
tax when you try to license it (unless it's been licensed in OR for
some amount of time [1 year?]).  WA has ungodly registration fees
(based upon the value of the car.  I was paying about $300.00/year
for my $15,000.00 car, versus $36.00/2 years in OR), so some people
try to license their cars in OR.  TPTB monitor the bridges between
OR and WA during the rush hour times looking for cars that appear
to be WA residents with OR license plates.

BTW, I'm an OR resident, so all of my stuff is legit.

  bills
--------
Bill Sears            Sequent Computer Systems            bills@sequent.com

While a transcendant vocabulary is laudable, one must be eternally careful
to ensure that the calculated objective of the communication does not become
ensconsed in obscurity.  Stated simply, it is invariably preferable to 
eschew obfuscation.                                           - Unknown

Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate, ... things.         - VP Dan Quayle

If God had meant for us to vote, He would have given us candidates.  - Anon
From: smjeff@lerc05.lerc.nasa.gov (Jeff Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Income from renting a primary residence
Keywords: income, sublet
Date: 31 Jul 92 13:45:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland Ohio

In article <64706@hydra.gatech.EDU> rpitts@emperor.gatech.edu (Richard Pitts) writes:
>In article <yuditsky.712520532@acf9> yuditsky@acf9.nyu.edu (Eugene Yuditsky) writes:
>>
>>Suppose I rent an apartment as my primary residence and I want to sublet it.
>>
>
>I've rented out part of my house, while living there as did my wife-to-be 
>did with her house, and now we rent out all of her former house.
>
>
>Get IRS Publication 17 (I believe) - there are others, but this is
>the main one.
>
>Rent is taxable income, unless you use the rental property a specified 
>amount of time (which I can't really recall) during the year.  So
>I believe if one rents out part of a residence and uses part of it,
>the usage rule applies only to the part which is rented.

Doesn't sound quite right.  Rent is always taxable income.  I think
you are confusing this with the issue of whether or not a second home
is a second residence or rental property.

-- 
Jeffrey H. Miller     smjeff@lerc05.lerc.nasa.gov
Sverdrup Technology, NASA Lewis Research Center Group, Cleveland, Ohio

favorite book title: Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
From: kettering@addvax.llnl.gov (Brett 'Volleyball Is My Game' Kettering)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Married filing separately status
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:44:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.40

At one time someone had posted things that should be considered in deciding
whether to file jointly or separately.  Is there a FAQ on this topic or
does someone have a summary of that discussion?  Please post or e-mail to
me, if you wish.  If I get e-mail, I'll post a summary.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brett M. Kettering
PaperNet: LLNL P.O. Box 808 L-437 Livermore, CA.  94551
InterNet: brettk@llnl.gov
TalkNet : (510) 423-3467
FaxNet  : (510) 423-4606

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
                   -- David O. McKay
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.legal,alt.individualism
From: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Subject: Re: Is paying income tax voluntary?
Reply-To: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 13:33:03 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.113319.1@acad2.alaska.edu>, fsars@acad2.alaska.edu
(Allen R Sparks) writes:

>Taken from _The Statistical Abstract of the United States 1991_ published
>by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The table it was taken from
>listed state taxes for 1989.

Hey!  Where's New Hampshire?  We have no general personal income tax AND
no general sales tax.  (There is an 8% meals and room tax, and there is
a 5% tax on interest and dividends income from out-of-state sources
after the first $1500 or so.)

In response to the original question, I have seen contentions that
paying federal income tax is voluntary, including one which seemed well
supported with citations from the relevant laws and federal rules.  The
basic claim was that taxes are not due until they are assessed, and they
are not assessed until a tax return is filed, and the government cannot
require you to file a tax return because that means signing a statement
that could be used against you, which is prohibited by the fifth
amendment.

However, the IRS will of course use whatever they can to get at you.  If
you slip up, they might be able to assess taxes and penalties against
you.  I know somebody who has not been paying federal income taxes for
eight years.  He says a couple of years ago, the IRS impounded his car,
he filed a petition against them, and the court ruled in his favor. 
(Filing cost $100.)


                                -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@alien.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng)
Subject: Re: Question on reinvesting money from sale of a home
Originator: acheng@shalom.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Organization: Nat'l Ctr for Supercomp App (NCSA) @ University of Illinois
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 06:09:25 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.192313.1893@mcc.com> richter@mcc.com (Charlie Richter) writes:
>Carter was hurt by some things not under his control.  For example,
>the price of oil doubled in a fairly short amount of time.  Even
>Gerald Ford had some of these problems before Carter -- remember his
>"WIN" buttons?  (Interest rates were really high during part of
>Reagan's first term, too, by the way.)

Well, you can't drop interest rates overnight.  Reagon inherited
the high rates and it took the '82 recession and his stubborness
to drive the inflation down, and the interest rates followed.

>What would *really* help long-term rates, IMO, is a reduction in the
>budget deficit.  (I base my opinion on simple supply-and-demand
>dynamics -- less government borrowing means smaller demand.)  As I
>recall, Bush's latest budget proposal (the budget submitted by Bush
>to Congress) was $399B in the red.  So the real question, I suppose,
>is whether Clinton's budget proposals will be better or worse than
>that.

There are two ways to reduce the deficit, cut spending or raise tax.  No
politicians have the gut to cut spending.  So raise tax.  End result
is the same--less money for investment.  There was a leak about Perot
econmony platform--raise 50cents tax on each gallon of gas and cut
entitlement.  Sounds the right way to go, but little Ross will never
be the President.  *sigh*

[This probably should go to misc.invest.]
From: ak860@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (William E. Steiger)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: 401k & 403b - total allowable contribution
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 13:40:18 -0400
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List


>I have a 401k plan at my work in private industry, and my wife is
>eligible to contribute to a 403b plan as an employee of the University
>of California. Do my contributions to my 401k limit the amount my wife
>can contribute to a 403b, and vice versa: if she starts contributing
>to a 403b, will that limit the amount I can put into my 401k?

No effect.  Your account and your wife's are completely separate.  Joint
IRS rules apply only to IRAs.

BTW contribute as much as possible into each plan for maximum tax benefit
assuming you can part with the money till your 59 1/2 and your retirement
income will be less than today's income.
From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: def. of investment fo
Date: 27 Jul 1992 04:59:38 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
Distribution: misc
NNTP-Posting-Host: gandalf.think.com

In article <1992Jul25.1302.2897@execnet> "hilary miller" <hilary.miller@execnet.com> writes:
>SA>|Can anyone point me to where I can find the legal definition of
>   |"investment" for tax purposes?
>          but generally speaking *all* capital assets fall under this
>          category -- real estate, stamps, coins, etc.

Does personal property fall into this?  For instance, if one kept good
enough purchase records, could they claim capital losses when they sell
their furniture, home entertainment equipment, appliances at a garage sale?
If they were a business they would presumably have to depreciate things
like this, but do individuals?
-- 
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
Xref: sparky misc.taxes:2843 misc.legal:15185 alt.individualism:4748
From: alan@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Alan S. Mazer)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.legal,alt.individualism
Subject: Re: Is paying income tax voluntary?
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:07:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: elroy.1992Jul30.150707.22364
Distribution: na
Organization: Image Analysis Systems Group, JPL

In article <1992Jul30.133158.20831@uc.msc.edu> eab@uh.msc.edu (Edward Bertsch) writes:
>could someone post a list of the states that have no state income tax?

Bear in mind that some states without state income tax make it up in sales tax.
Actually, sales tax in CA used to be a lot less now that I think about it.
-- 
 
-- Alan                        # Mountain Dew and doughnuts...
   ..!ames!elroy!alan          # because breakfast is the most important meal
   alan@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov     # of the day.
Xref: sparky misc.taxes:2855 misc.legal:15210 alt.individualism:4766
From: fsars@acad2.alaska.edu (Allen R Sparks)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.legal,alt.individualism
Subject: Re: Is paying income tax voluntary?
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:33:19 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Alaska

In article <1992Jul30.133158.20831@uc.msc.edu>, eab@uh.msc.edu (Edward Bertsch) writes:
> could someone post a list of the states that have no state income tax?
> 
Taken from _The Statistical Abstract of the United States 1991_ published
by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The table it was taken from
listed state taxes for 1989.

Alaska
Florida
Nevada
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wyoming
      All do not (or didn't in 1989) have state income taxes.
                    === Al Sparks
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: nicklaus@lonetree.lonetree.physics.wisc.edu (Dennis J. Nicklaus)
Subject: Re: FICA payments...NOT
Organization: Univ. Wisconsin High Energy Physics
	<1992Jul26.140436.19464@crd.ge.com>
	<1992Jul27.045412.555@ncsa.uiuc.edu>
Date: 27 Jul 92 10:18:21


In article <1992Jul26.140436.19464@crd.ge.com> joseph@c2a.crd.ge.com (joseph) writes:
>  I have always thought that it is sort of unfair that those of us in the
>  private sector (the engines of the economy) pay those taxes, and those
>  in the governement (beuraucrats - the brake pads of the economy) do not
>  pay it.  (No offense meant to individual goverment employees).  My
>  understanding is that state employees covered under a state retirement
>  system and federal employees do not pay FICA taxes.  Is that correct ?


No.  I'm an employee of the state of Wisconsin.  There is a state
retirement system (which I don't directly contribute anything to,
even tho I'm covered under it).
You can certainly bet that FICA deductions come out of my paycheck each month.
Dennis Nicklaus
From: jdt@kd4edw.dixie.com (James Taylor)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Read my lips!
Date: 19 Jul 92 03:21:15 GMT
Organization: Radio Flyers

david@lrc.edu writes:

>>     Well, send a vote this election that tells Bush that his breath mint
>>     is not strong enough.   We won't buy anymore of his bull! 
>> 
>>         Vote for change, you have 2 other choices that are better.
>> 
>I heard that the 2 other choices would raise taxes.  I would vote for 
>someone that says "NO NEW TAXES!" and raises them then for someone that 
>WILL raise taxes.  I think that congress had something to do with that
>tax raise.  Congress is the real problem!! 
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>David J. Link                 david@alice.lrc.edu
>Lenoir-Rhyne College          
>Hickory, NC  28603 (USA)      I make no claims, but God does.

Makes perfect sense to me.  I always support a liar who tells me what I want to
hear rather than someone who tells me a painful truth.  Congress is definitely
the problem.  The bozos who vote (or don't vote at all) for them are faultless
due to their incredible ignorance and gullibility.

================================================================================
James Taylor	jdt@kd4edw.dixie.com  
[Direct all flames to God.  I'm certainly ]
[not responsible for my own actions, so   ]
[it must be his fault I'm the way I am.   ]
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: youngs@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (D.Youngs)
Subject: FICA payments...NOT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 17:59:33 GMT

I have been paying into a state retirement account for several years.
Recently I moved out of state and am being forced to make FICA payments.
Does anyone know how I can avoid these payments?  Otherwise, I must wait 3
months to qualify for a 401K plan from my employer to kick in.

Thanks in advance.

Doug
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: sgh@dazixca.ingr.com (Satyen Harve)
Subject: Tax Withholding and other such Info Requested.
Reply-To: satyen@dazixca.ingr.com
Organization: DAZIX, An Intergraph Company
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 02:50:28 GMT


I want to know what are the tax consequences of someone
who works at an agency but does not get paid any salary
but gets paid commissions.  The commissions get paid in 
full every 15 days without any withholding.  Should there
be any with-holding.  If not how does one handle it.  What
are the relevant questions to ask.

Also, is this considered self-employed?  If so what are the
consequences (tax-wise) What can you deduct and what extra do
you need to pay?

What about Social Security?

If you file MFJ with the spouse having more tax withheld than
neccessary, is that sufficient for withholding.  Or is MFS
filing preferred?  Again what are the advantages/disadvantages.

I have asked a lot of questions above.  Any answer to them
will be greatly appreciated.

You can post or e-mail to me and I will post a summary if
there is sufficient interest.

Satyen Harve
(satyen@dazixca.ingr.com)

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: dwarren@csfb1.fir.fbc.com (David Warren)
Subject: Re: Question on reinvesting money from sale of a home
Reply-To: uunet!csfb1!dwarren
Organization: First Boston Corporation
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 22:07:41 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.192313.1893@mcc.com>, richter@mcc.com (Charlie Richter) writes:
|> > >Also any guesses on when the interest rates will start rising?
|> > Depends on the president.
|> 
|> Most economists expect short-term rates to rise after the election
|> regardless of who is elected.  A more interesting question is what
|> long-term rates will do.  Greenspan thinks long-term rates should
|> be lower at present, but he's pretty much admitted he can't do
|> anything to reduce them.  Cutting short-term rates further may fuel
|> fears of inflation, thus pushing long-term rates higher.
|> 
|> > If Clinton gets in ... well look at the Carter era.
|> 
|> Carter was hurt by some things not under his control.  For example,
|> the price of oil doubled in a fairly short amount of time.  Even
|> Gerald Ford had some of these problems before Carter -- remember his
|> "WIN" buttons?  (Interest rates were really high during part of
|> Reagan's first term, too, by the way.)
|> 
|> What would *really* help long-term rates, IMO, is a reduction in the
|> budget deficit.  (I base my opinion on simple supply-and-demand
|> dynamics -- less government borrowing means smaller demand.)  As I
|> recall, Bush's latest budget proposal (the budget submitted by Bush
|> to Congress) was $399B in the red.  So the real question, I suppose,
|> is whether Clinton's budget proposals will be better or worse than
|> that.
|> -- 

Also watch Germany.  If they get their own inflation fears under control,
German rates may finally be dropped.  If so, look for the dollar to gain
back some of what it's lost, and long term U.S. treasuries will look
richer (hence their yield will drop) to global players.

BTW, I would not be surprised at all to see the next Fed increase in short-term
rates (certainly not before November!) actually leading to a reduction
in long term rates, as the market would view such a Fed move as 
anti-inflationary.

-- 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
| David R. Warren |  First Boston Corporation   |                     |
| (212) 909-3454  |  55 E. 52nd St -- Mezzanine | uunet!csfb1!dwarren |
|                 |  NY NY 10055                |                     |
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: aba@hp835.mitek.com (Binion Amerson)
Subject: Re: technical writing jobs???
Organization: OpenConnect Systems, Dallas, TX
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 12:41:13 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.202153.12916@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> ai118@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Rich Zidonis) writes:
>
>In a previous article, en01@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (EUGINA M. NOVAK) says:
>
>>  My questions are:
>>    what types of technical writing are available?
>>    What are the prospects of obtaining a writing position?
>>    What salary range do technical writers usually receive?
>>    What experience or requirements tend to be accepted?
>>    If you currently work as a technical writer, what does a typical day
>>    entail for you and are you happy with your position?
>
>EMN requested email replies, but I am also interested in the answers.
>I would appreciate having the answers emailed to me, too, or, if
>the interest is there, perhaps the answers can be posted.
>-- 
>rich
>
>Internet: ai118@cleveland.freenet.edu

Rich:

I posted an answer to Gina and mentioned the Society for Technical
Communicaiton (STC).  The STC Northeast Ohio Chapter is in Cleveland; the
predident is David M. Cratty; he can be reached at 216/987-5034.

Binion Amerson
-- 
 Binion Amerson, Senior Technical Writer, OpenConnect Systems, Inc., 2033 
 Chennault Dr., Carrollton, Texas 75006; 214/308-0447; aba@hp835.mitek.com
 General Manager: 40th STC Annual Conference, June 6-9, 1993,  Dallas, TX
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: charless@sco.COM (charles stross)
Subject: Re: Genre
Organization: The Somewhat Contagious Operation, Inc.
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 13:09:28 GMT


In article <87940019@otter.hpl.hp.com> cdfk@otter.hpl.hp.com (Caroline Knight) writes:
>
> And tying in another thread...  as this method of reading takes over my
> imagination I cannot read fiction whilst writing.  Therefore
> non-fiction is necessary to feed my reading habit.  Do those of you
> considering yourselves _real_ writers use non-fiction in this way and
> then label it "research" to assuage your guilt?
>
> Caroline

(Depends what you mean by "real" :)

Reading fiction has no noticeable effect on my non-fiction work. On
the other hand, I like to avoid some categories of fiction -- notably
stuff similar to my own -- while I'm either creating or (more import-
antly) re-drafting to a deadline. Before I developed a personal
style I tended to be subconsciously influenced by whatever I was going
through at the time. What I do these days is immerse myself in non-fiction
relevant to my _next_ fictive project -- thus ensuring that I get
my research reading done ahead of time, and don't get distracted by 
new ideas relevant to my _current_ project while I'm writing it. But
that's not the only reason I read it; I don't read stuff I'm not interested
in, and I don't write fiction about ideas or people which bore me. So
"research" reading has a large intersection with non-fiction "recreation"
reading ...

-- 
Charlie Stross aka charless@scol.sco.com ..... UNIX oriented text mangler
WARNING: The opinions voiced in the preceding electronic document are the
product of a warped mind. Take two before meals. Now put the following in
your sigfile: {LineEater Vaccine: Bush CIA Drugs Revolution Perot Murder}
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: mtan@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Maureen Tan)
Subject: Re: HELP!!! Writer's Block!!!
Followup-To: misc.writing
Organization: UIUC
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 14:25:41 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.091835.1@lure.latrobe.edu.au>,
miuvdd@lure.latrobe.edu.au wrote:
> 
> Help!!!!
> 
> I'm in a slump!  I'm in a rut!  I have the dreaded writers block, and
> nothing I do seems to do any good!
> 
> So if anyone out there has any ideas how I might overcome this evil
> foe, I would much appreciate it!

First you gather your materials:  chicken wire, lots of newspaper, a gallon
of homemade glue.  Then you begin to build a large paper mache dragon...

Seriously, sometime just walking away (mentally or physically)
from the material for a little while can be helpful.  The trick is to
set a time limit on how long you'll allow yourself to walk away. 

I've found that it sometimes helps to look at the circumstances
surrounding the  "block."  A little like diagnosing the disease before
treatment...

Are you in the middle of something--is there a
flaw in the plot your subconscious is telling you about?  Have you
lost respect for a key character.  (I  once went into acute  block after
writing
 a chapter that was really  dramatic...except that the old guy
in the wheelchair got up, crossed the garden, and shook hands with
the heroine.)

Are you at the beginning --this seems to be the time when bullying 
through works.  In other words, just sit down and put  any damn thing
on paper just to get the muscles warmed up and overcome the basic
 "Oh, God, I can't go through this again" instinct.

Are you at that horrible spot near the end where finishing  dredges up
all the insecurities about "will it be good enough?" Gail Goodwin wrote
a neat piece called The Watcher at the Gates.  It's this little guy who
sits on your subconscious and trys to stop the flow of your imagination.
At the end of the article, Goodwin asks her  Watcher
"What is it you're so afraid I'll do?"  And he repies, "Fail."

Or is there something else going on in your life that's creating enough
trauma that it's sapping your creative energy?  And can you shoot it/
quit it/pay it/threaten it or bury it  so that you can get on with what's
important in life?

Maureen  (a.k.a. Jane)     
Newsgroups: misc.writing,rec.music.makers