Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Are You Filthy Rich?

As I have explained on numerous occasions, the tax code is rife with secret taxes on those people who our rulers in DC consider to be undeserving by phasing out or eliminating tax breaks for people over certain income levels. I sarcastically refer to these people as the evil rich. In this article from Fox News, Radley Balko finds that he is among the filthy rich because his income is so high that he loses the deduction for interest on student loans.

The way in which our rulers in DC define who is too wealthy to receive tax breaks is just another example of their twisted logic. A similar one is their definition of what constitutes a luxury car for tax purposes. Any vehicle that costs more than $15,300 is a luxury auto and deductions for vehicles weighing less than 6,000 pounds are limited based on that amount, which anyone who has priced new vehicles knows, bears little resemblance to reality. That’s as valid as calling retired couples earning over $32,000 a year filthy rich.

KMK