Yeah , in fact I restarted the book when I got to that moment you are talking about because I had 4 points on premonition that were far more useful in speed and hearing . Premonition should have had a role in that part . <| sep |> In LAN LAS <| sep |> I didn ' t ignore your point , you just didn ' t refute anything . The people who have an effective tax rate of 0 % achieve this by using the tax code to their advantage , as do rich people . Everybody should do this . There was no point to you making the distinction between taxable and gross income , because everybody can use the tax code . Did you just take your first accounting course or something ? almost half of americans have a taxable income of $ 0 . I think this is wrong . Wealth is an accumulation of income already taxed and other assets . If you start taxing the rich we should define this , they will leave the U . S . to somewhere that doesn ' t try to tax them down to a level closer to that of others . edit Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one ' s taxes . Gregory v . Helvering , 69 F . 2 d 809 , 810 2 d Cir . 1934 everybody should use the tax code to their advantage . nobody has a duty to pay more in taxes than they are required . you can pay more if you ' d like ! start the trend .