Dear Editor:

For the average American working family, everything we need to know about income taxes are contained in the 100-plus pages of the 1040 instruction booklet. The remaining 2,500 pages of the tax code contain all the tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthy elite.

So when Mr. Trump says he is smart for paying no taxes; that is not entirely true. He can afford to hire a bunch of smart accountants to take advantage of situations most working families will never see. As billionaire Warren Buffett observed, his tax rate is less than his secretary’s.

If you are in doubt how the wealthy elite are enjoying a lighter tax rate that you, ask you tax preparer how much your taxes might be if they were qualified dividends or long term capital gains instead of wages. If you are lucky enough to own an income producing property, the tax benefits are astounding.

The argument in favor of these advantages is that they create jobs — perhaps if you are an accountant or a child working in a third world factory where our manufacturing base and American jobs have been moved. There are further advantages built into our tax code for off-shoring these jobs.

Even more bizarrely, the wealthy elite take advantage significant “incentives.”  Those big box stores and online merchandisers play states and municipalities off against one another for outright cash giveaways and Tax Increment Financing (TIFs). TIFs are a subtle way of diverting property taxes away from the general fund to purposes directly beneficial to the these elites.

The effect of all these tax advantages is that we end up paying more for less. Our tax dollars ought to bring us the benefit of better jobs and a better standard of living. Instead they are fattening the wallets of the already wealthy elites.

The wealthy elites should stop whining about having to pay an additional 3 percent tax on their incomes over $200K. The real question is why are children of working families being punished for living in the wrong zip code?

Fred Nehring

Boothbay