Walmart tax

As you know, I prepare income tax for AARP and have a number of Walmart employees who take advantage of this free service. A man with a wife and two children working at Walmart will earn $19,000 per year without any overtime. This is sometimes reported as working and making less than the poverty level set at $22,000 for a family of five. What is not reported is that this family pays no state or federal income tax and gets back from state and federal benefits totaling $11,000 so the more accurate figure for income is $30,000. In addition full time employee which are 80% of Walmarts 2 million employees receive benefits including health, life, and disability insurance along with vacation, sick leave plus discounts on eye care and prescription drugs. I have no idea how a family of five can get by on $30,000 but I do know that whenever a Walmart store opens there are many who apply to work there. There are three main reasons why Walmart prices are low. First is the low wages they pay. Second much of what they sell is made outside the US mostly in China where wages are even lower. Third they have developed a very efficient distribution system. The irony is that most of Walmart customers are blue collar workers who would be reluctant to pay more just to provide more benefits. This last statement is only an opinion of mine not based on any studies. I for one would pay more and I use McDonalds as an example of cost control since I am familiar with fast food finances. At a fast food place cost is basically in three categories. One third for wages, one third for materials and one third for expenses. If a burger cost $3 that means that the labor is $1. As a consumer I would be willing to pay $4 for that burger if I knew that it would double the wages. Instead of earning $8 per hour they would earn $16 per hour. I have no idea how that would affect sales.