Assignment 1 - Income tax

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Assignment 1: Should the U.S. Convert to a Zero Personal Income Tax?

Due Week 7 and worth 180 points

In 2017, Motley Fool reported at https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/04/06/where-do-your-tax-dollars-actually-go.aspx that the U.S. Government spends about $2.7 trillion for various kinds of social insurance (Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, unemployment compensation, veterans benefits, and the like). Another $604 billion, or 15.3% of total spending, went for national defense; net interest payments on government debt were about $240 billion, or 6.1%. Education aid and related social services were about $114 billion, or less than 3% of all federal spending.In spite of the services and benefits that the government provides, many taxpayers dread paying income taxes but consider them a necessary evil. Consequently, there is much debate about the inequities contained within the tax code, due to tax shelters and tax credits provided to some taxpayers (which thereby increase the tax burden on others).

Using the Internet or Strayer Library, research one (1) country that has a zero income tax rate.

Write a five (5) page paper in which you do the following:

1. Analyze the way in which the country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.

2. For the country that you have chosen, determine whether the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue (as currently generated by collecting income taxes from individuals and businesses). Justify your response.

3. Suggest at least two (2) advantages and two(2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Provide a rationale for your responses.

4. Speculate on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes. Ascertain the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Justify your responses.

5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not quality as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Examine the types of taxes imposed at the federal, state, and local levels; the federal tax formula; and the rules for arriving at personal and dependency exemptions.

· Analyze the concepts of gross income and distinguish between the economic, accounting, and tax concepts of gross income and strategies to minimize gross income, maximize deductions, and minimize disallowance of deductions

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in federal taxation.

· Write clearly and concisely about federal taxation using proper writing mechanics.

Click here to view the grading rubric.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Points: 180	Assignment 1: Should the U.S. Convert to a Zero Personal Income Tax?
Criteria	Unacceptable Below 60% F	Meets Minimum Expectations 60-69% D	Fair 70-79% C	Proficient 80-89% B	Exemplary 90-100% A
1. Analyze the way in which the one (1) country that you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely analyzed the way in which the country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.	Insufficiently analyzed the way in which the country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.	Partially analyzed the way in which the country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.	Satisfactorily analyzed the way in which the country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.	Thoroughly analyzed the way in which the one(1) country you have researched provides services and benefits to its citizens without collecting personal income taxes.
2. For the country that you have chosen, determine whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business. Justify your response. Weight: 20%	Did not submit or incompletely determined whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business for the countries that you have chosen. Did not submit or incompletely justified your response.	Insufficiently determined whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business for the countries that you have chosen. Insufficiently justified your response.	Partially determined whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business for the countries that you have chosen. Partially justified your response.	Satisfactorily determined whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business for the countries that you have chosen. Satisfactorily justified your response.	Thoroughly determined whether or not the U.S. could adopt their taxation model without reducing its total amount of revenue generated by collecting personal income taxes from individuals and business for the countries that you have chosen. Thoroughly justified your response.
3. Suggest at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Provide a rationale for your response. Weight: 20%	Did not submit or incompletely suggested at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Did not submit or incompletely provided a rationale for your response.	Insufficiently suggested at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Insufficiently provided a rationale for your response.	Partially suggested at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Partially provided a rationale for your response.	Satisfactorily suggested at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Satisfactorily provided a rationale for your response.	Thoroughly suggested at least two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the U.S. adopting a zero income tax model. Thoroughly provided a rationale for your response.
4. Speculate on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes, and ascertain the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Justify your response. Weight: 25%	Did not submit or incompletely speculated on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes; did not submit or incompletely ascertained the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Did not submit or incompletely justified your response.	Insufficiently speculated on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes; insufficiently ascertained the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Insufficiently justified your response.	Partially speculated on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes; partially ascertained the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Partially justified your response.	Satisfactorily speculated on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes; satisfactorily ascertained the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Satisfactorily justified your response.	Thoroughly speculated on the primary way in which the federal government could make up any shortfalls if it does not collect its targeted revenue from personal income taxes; thoroughly ascertained the most significant way in which the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the IRS, can still adhere to its fiscal and monetary policies. Thoroughly justified your response.
5. Cite 3 high-quality references Weight: 10%	No references provided.	Does not meet the required number of references; all references poor quality choices.	Meets the required number of references; some references poor quality choices.	Meets number of required references; most references high quality choices.	Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices.
6. Writing Mechanics, Grammar, and Formatting Weight: 5%	Serious and persistent errorsin grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting.	Numerous errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting.	Partially free of errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting.	Mostly free of errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting.	Error free or almost error free in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting.
7. Appropriate use of APA in-text citations, reference section and format Weight: 5%	Lack of in-text citations and / or lack of reference section.	In-text citations and references are given, but not in APA format.	In-text citations and references are provided, but they are only partially formatted correctly in APA style.	Most in-text citations and references are provided, and they are generally formatted correctly in APA style.	In-text citations and references are error free or almost error free and consistently formatted correctly in APA style.