Essay Available:
Pages:
5 pages/≈1375 words
Sources:
5
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 18
Topic:
Should Prisoners Pay Back Taxes We Pay to House Them?
Essay Instructions:
I only need an outline & 5 citations in both APA & MLA form, also a small paragraph at the beginning of the outline explaining my topic but I want to include the 5 type of claims as well which are the following
claim of fact
claim of definition
Claim of cause
Claim of value
Claim of policy
I will be adding the links down below for the outline example that was provided for us & the 5 citation has to be from our schools library if possible if not all 5 were found at least 2 or 3, journals, court cases or articles can be used as well for the citations.
https://library(dot)southtexascollege(dot)edu/
Essay Sample Content Preview:
MLA Format
Name
Date
Class
Instructor
Should Prisoners Pay Back Taxes We Paid Plus the Current Tax We Pay to House Them?
* Claim of fact: The debate on whether prisoners should pay taxes for their stay in prison has been on course in recent times.
* Claim of definition: It is important for every citizen to pay their taxes because government uses these funds for development purposes and to promote economic activities across the country.
* Claim of cause: Counties need funds for daily jail operations and development of these correctional facilities (Emily, 2016).
* Claim of value: According to Spengler, the cost of incarceration in Federal Prisons is $5.8 billion. While the number of people in prison has dropped in recent times, the government is still spending a significant amount on state and federal prisoners. In 2018, the Bureau of Prisons reported that the average cost for a federal inmate was $36,299.25 annually, or $99.45 per day (Spengler). This value is significant considering that there are several other projects that the government sacrifices to ensure that the correctional facilities remain in operation.
* Claim of policy: Every American has to file a tax return if they make enough money to meet the income threshold. Any single person under 65 years is bound by the tax policy, which specifies that the threshold as being equal to the combination of the standard deduction and a personal exemption. As of 2013, a prisoner did not qualify to file a return if the individual failed to meet the threshold annual income (). Since the highest pay that the Federal Bureau Prisons offers is $1.15 per hour, even an inmate who works eight hours a day would not be close to attaining this threshold.
Based on the above claims, I will use the claim of policy to support my stand that prisoners should only be compelled to pay back the taxes we paid plus the current tax we pay to house them if the individual earns an amount that is above the threshold figure for any citizen to pay the taxes. Those who are of the view that the prisoners should repay the taxes have asserted that these individuals are held in taxpayers funded facilities throughout their terms, benefiting from the tax payers’ sweat without providing anything in return. On the contrary, opponents of this claim have noted that prisoners should not be compelled to repay the taxes because most of them cannot afford.
Introduction
Prisoners should only be compelled to pay back taxes upon proof that they were working and earning an amount that is above the threshold specified by the tax policy (Claim of Fact).
The tax timelines do not stop when a suspect gets convicted. While inmates may not have to pay taxes from their prison income, the rest of the taxation rules and guidelines remain the same (Lander, 2019). The Internal Revenue Service pauses an individual’s tax debt when entering the prison but allows the interest and penalties to accrue. Besides, the IRS will not allow a prisoner to file a return more than three years after it is due for collection or for a refund.
Proposition
Prisoners who continue to earn an income that is above the threshold for one to pay the taxes should continue paying them, or should be ordered to repay them once they get out of prison.
Prison vs Freedom Life
The only difference between prison and outside life is that the prisoners are denied their freedom. This denial of freedom is a punishment for their actions. However, they continue working even in prison, making money while relying on government property. Allowing these people to access their full salary without paying any taxes is unfair to the rest of the citizens, who are burdened with more taxes.
Reviewing prison conditions will be best
Prisoners should be allowed to work like everybody else and generate income to cater for their own costs while in prison. They should be allowed to undertake normal chores, such as lodging, washing clothes, and doing other menial jobs, such as cleaning the streets because it is through such acts that they will earn substantial amounts to support themselves.
The owe the public
Prisoners are individuals who have committed crimes against the public. Therefore, they should not benefit from the public efforts in any way. Instead, the public need to benefit from their efforts. They should work to grow their own food and should not have access to any form of luxuries from the outside world, such as commissary or TV.
Transition
Deserve Humane Treatment
However, it is also important to note that lack of freedom is a severe punishment that is enough to rectify one’s behavior. Some of these individuals committed the crimes unintentionally and found themselves in prison. Therefore, accumulating their taxes is a way of punishing them twice, which is unfair on their end.
Most of them are Poor
Most of the prisoners commit crimes out of poverty. The earnings that these people get while in prison may not be sufficient to get them out of poverty once they complete their term. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to assess the amount of money that these people earn and those who earn above the threshold value should be compelled to remit their taxes or settle them once out of prison.
Widen the scope of activities
If the government wishes to tax these members, it should explore actively involve these members in completing government projects to allow them support themselves. It would be more appropriate to train these members in areas where the government needs labor and then deploy them. Those deployed should get some income that is enough to pay taxes.
Demanding a Repayment is an untenable process
Purporting to demand tax from individuals who have left prison will be a futile process. According to Sainato (2021), millions of students are unable to repay their student loans. These are individuals who were in school and most of them are working. If the same is demanded of prisoners, who stay for very many years in prison and come out without guarantee of a job and demanding them to pay will be untenable.
Conclusion
The government needs to review its policy on tax payments for prisoners to avert the crisis associated with the funding of these correctional facilities.
There is a need to review the funding sources of the correctional facilities by engaging the prisoners more in a manner that will allow them to get more funds and pay their taxes.
Works Cited
Emily, Summers. County voters have opportunity to vote on jail tax. Enid News & Eagle (OK). (2016).
Herring, Tianna. “For the Poorest People in Prison, It's a Struggle to Access Even Basic Necessities.” Prison Policy Initiative, 18 Nov. 2021, /blog/2021/11/18/indigence/.
Lander, Steve. “What Are Prisoners' Rights about Income Taxes?” Pocketsense, 24 Mar. 2022, htt...
Name
Date
Class
Instructor
Should Prisoners Pay Back Taxes We Paid Plus the Current Tax We Pay to House Them?
* Claim of fact: The debate on whether prisoners should pay taxes for their stay in prison has been on course in recent times.
* Claim of definition: It is important for every citizen to pay their taxes because government uses these funds for development purposes and to promote economic activities across the country.
* Claim of cause: Counties need funds for daily jail operations and development of these correctional facilities (Emily, 2016).
* Claim of value: According to Spengler, the cost of incarceration in Federal Prisons is $5.8 billion. While the number of people in prison has dropped in recent times, the government is still spending a significant amount on state and federal prisoners. In 2018, the Bureau of Prisons reported that the average cost for a federal inmate was $36,299.25 annually, or $99.45 per day (Spengler). This value is significant considering that there are several other projects that the government sacrifices to ensure that the correctional facilities remain in operation.
* Claim of policy: Every American has to file a tax return if they make enough money to meet the income threshold. Any single person under 65 years is bound by the tax policy, which specifies that the threshold as being equal to the combination of the standard deduction and a personal exemption. As of 2013, a prisoner did not qualify to file a return if the individual failed to meet the threshold annual income (). Since the highest pay that the Federal Bureau Prisons offers is $1.15 per hour, even an inmate who works eight hours a day would not be close to attaining this threshold.
Based on the above claims, I will use the claim of policy to support my stand that prisoners should only be compelled to pay back the taxes we paid plus the current tax we pay to house them if the individual earns an amount that is above the threshold figure for any citizen to pay the taxes. Those who are of the view that the prisoners should repay the taxes have asserted that these individuals are held in taxpayers funded facilities throughout their terms, benefiting from the tax payers’ sweat without providing anything in return. On the contrary, opponents of this claim have noted that prisoners should not be compelled to repay the taxes because most of them cannot afford.
Introduction
Prisoners should only be compelled to pay back taxes upon proof that they were working and earning an amount that is above the threshold specified by the tax policy (Claim of Fact).
The tax timelines do not stop when a suspect gets convicted. While inmates may not have to pay taxes from their prison income, the rest of the taxation rules and guidelines remain the same (Lander, 2019). The Internal Revenue Service pauses an individual’s tax debt when entering the prison but allows the interest and penalties to accrue. Besides, the IRS will not allow a prisoner to file a return more than three years after it is due for collection or for a refund.
Proposition
Prisoners who continue to earn an income that is above the threshold for one to pay the taxes should continue paying them, or should be ordered to repay them once they get out of prison.
Prison vs Freedom Life
The only difference between prison and outside life is that the prisoners are denied their freedom. This denial of freedom is a punishment for their actions. However, they continue working even in prison, making money while relying on government property. Allowing these people to access their full salary without paying any taxes is unfair to the rest of the citizens, who are burdened with more taxes.
Reviewing prison conditions will be best
Prisoners should be allowed to work like everybody else and generate income to cater for their own costs while in prison. They should be allowed to undertake normal chores, such as lodging, washing clothes, and doing other menial jobs, such as cleaning the streets because it is through such acts that they will earn substantial amounts to support themselves.
The owe the public
Prisoners are individuals who have committed crimes against the public. Therefore, they should not benefit from the public efforts in any way. Instead, the public need to benefit from their efforts. They should work to grow their own food and should not have access to any form of luxuries from the outside world, such as commissary or TV.
Transition
Deserve Humane Treatment
However, it is also important to note that lack of freedom is a severe punishment that is enough to rectify one’s behavior. Some of these individuals committed the crimes unintentionally and found themselves in prison. Therefore, accumulating their taxes is a way of punishing them twice, which is unfair on their end.
Most of them are Poor
Most of the prisoners commit crimes out of poverty. The earnings that these people get while in prison may not be sufficient to get them out of poverty once they complete their term. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to assess the amount of money that these people earn and those who earn above the threshold value should be compelled to remit their taxes or settle them once out of prison.
Widen the scope of activities
If the government wishes to tax these members, it should explore actively involve these members in completing government projects to allow them support themselves. It would be more appropriate to train these members in areas where the government needs labor and then deploy them. Those deployed should get some income that is enough to pay taxes.
Demanding a Repayment is an untenable process
Purporting to demand tax from individuals who have left prison will be a futile process. According to Sainato (2021), millions of students are unable to repay their student loans. These are individuals who were in school and most of them are working. If the same is demanded of prisoners, who stay for very many years in prison and come out without guarantee of a job and demanding them to pay will be untenable.
Conclusion
The government needs to review its policy on tax payments for prisoners to avert the crisis associated with the funding of these correctional facilities.
There is a need to review the funding sources of the correctional facilities by engaging the prisoners more in a manner that will allow them to get more funds and pay their taxes.
Works Cited
Emily, Summers. County voters have opportunity to vote on jail tax. Enid News & Eagle (OK). (2016).
Herring, Tianna. “For the Poorest People in Prison, It's a Struggle to Access Even Basic Necessities.” Prison Policy Initiative, 18 Nov. 2021, /blog/2021/11/18/indigence/.
Lander, Steve. “What Are Prisoners' Rights about Income Taxes?” Pocketsense, 24 Mar. 2022, htt...
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now: