Thread: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and wife, $104 federal income tax bill, $19,000 refund

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and wife raise eyebrows with $104 federal income tax bill, $19K refund

Published April 22, 2015 Fox News Latino

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  Texas Governor Greg Abbott (AP)
  

They earned a combined $131,251 in income last year, and paid what in federal income tax?

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and Lone Star First Lady Cecilia Abbott, who is Mexican-American, paid a remarkable $104 in federal income taxes for 2014, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle examined a copy of the couple's 2014 tax return, on which they claimed $102,249 in deductions relating to $4,495 in charity donations, property taxes and mortgage interest on their home, which is valued at about $1 million.

Helping get them to the $104 bill was an additional $11,850 in exemptions. The return also claims that the federal government owes the Abbotts a refund for the year of more than $19,000.

Abbott got the bulk of his income from his time as Texas attorney general.

The newspaper noted that the reported income does not include more than $100,000 the state official receives annually for a court settlement over a falling tree that paralyzed him in 1986.

In a news release, Abbott claimed a 40 percent "combined local, state and federal tax burden," but about 97 percent of that was property tax.

The reaction on the Internet was mixed.

On a website called TexAgs, one person wrote: “I don't fault Greg Abbott. He is playing by the rules to his benefit. Good for him. But a system that allows this must be changed.”

Another wrote: “America: Where you can earn over 3 times what most Americans do yet pay less than pretty much everyone.”

And yet another said: “So, do you think it's not ‘fair’ that they get to deduct the same things everyone else deducts? I'm assuming that the property taxes on a million dollar home are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. Interest could be anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, almost $5,000 in charitable donations. They probably paid closer to 27 percent in taxes when you consider their property tax. I see no problem with this. Now, if we were to go to a flat tax or a consumption tax, then we could get rid of this ‘unfairness.’”

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/04/22/texas-gov-greg-abbott-and-wife-raise-eyebrows-with-104-federal-income-tax-bill/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obnetwork

And yet another said: “So, do you think it's not ‘fair’ that they get to deduct the same things everyone else deducts? I'm assuming that the property taxes on a million dollar home are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. Interest could be anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, almost $5,000 in charitable donations. They probably paid closer to 27 percent in taxes when you consider their property tax. I see no problem with this. Now, if we were to go to a flat tax or a consumption tax, then we could get rid of this ‘unfairness.’”

"or a consumption tax"

Oh yes, I totally agree with that one, that is the FairTax, that's why it's called the FairTax, to get rid of "unfairness" by getting rid of the cause of it all, at both ends of the spectrum and more than ample in the middle, and that is the income tax.

Get rid of it. Until 1913, such a tax wasn't even constitutional and the Constitution had to be amended to allow it. Democrats did this to our poor people, businesses, citizens and nation. Pass the FairTax and shut them down so Happy Days Are Here Again! Come on, people, wake up.

The FairTax legislation is HR 25 in the US House of Representatives with 68 Sponsors and S 155 in the US Senate with 7 Sponsors. Lets do it. Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them you want it and you want it now, and if they refuse to listen to you, vote them out of office and replace them someone who will.