It’s normal to take advantages of loopholes

I don’t often agree with Danny Westneat, but his column on taxes was right on. [“One more time: Our taxes are OK,” NWWednesday, Jan. 25.]

Unlike [Syndicated columnist Paul] Krugman, he talks about dollars, not just percentages. He recognizes that dividends may be taxed at a lower rate, but only after the corporations have paid taxes on their profits.

Mitt Romney, or anyone, would be foolish to not take advantage of legal loopholes; the problem is way too many loopholes exist.

A flat-rate tax, without loopholes, beginning at a reasonable income level, would stifle the left’s misleading arguments about percentages paid, and force them to talk about dollars, which is what counts in the end.

Finally, Romney’s taxes would have been much higher if he hadn’t given millions to charities, but it’s likely the charities made better use of the money than the government would have.

My tax rate is less than Romney’s and the dollars I paid are a tiny fraction. My complaint is about the nearly half of Americans who get free government, largely due to the monstrous bureaucracies and tax laws keeping jobs from being created, but also the growing sense of entitlement in this country.

If everyone had a job, all our taxes could be lower.

— Gary T. McGavran, Bellevue

I would like more data

With the current media coverage, it seems that all the emphasis on Mitt Romney’s tax returns center on amount of his wealth, the offshore accounts, his 15 percent tax rate, and investment returns. All well and good; these should be vetted. However, how about we spend some time discussing the significant amount of “legal” tax that he actually did pay and how much he “voluntarily” gave of his income to charity.

I dare say that if all of our tax returns looked like his, we would all be in a better place as a country and as a society. Please, someone in the media run a comparison of Romney’s tax rate and charitable giving to members of Congress and with those in the current administration. I would love to see that data.

As far as Romney’s tax returns go, I find him to be a compassionate human being — regardless of his political preference.

— Tony Fortino, Everett