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The poor will ALWAYS BE poor. This is how America is today and in the foreseeable future. If this is the case, one may as well surrender their citizenship and move to another country. The grass may not be greener but to say that taxation in the USA is out of control is an understatement!!!
What is your view on this? Are you paying too much taxes? What do you think can be done about this?
The old cliche about the Golden Rule ("He who has the gold makes the rules") is alive and well in the US tax system. The whole system is Of, By, and For the rich. Tax rates for the very wealthy have plummeted in the last decade, yet we continually hear how the wealthy are being "taxed to death".
I recall reading a story several years ago where Warren Buffett was talking about how much higher the tax rate was for his $40k earning secretary than it was for himself, and how ridiculous it was. Since then, it's just become more ridiculous. I'd love to pay that 16%-ish rate that the top 400 pay.
The report only addresses state and local taxes, which is mostly income, sales and property tax.
The rich pay a greater percentage of their income in income tax. However, the proportion of their income that they spend on goods is far lower than lower income households, so therefore they pay much less sales tax (as a percentage of income) than lower income households. I think that's just math, not out of control taxation.
Sales tax is regressive in nature but it's not shocking the left out federal income tax becuase that would kill their angle. Further more if you factored in earned income credit and other govt benefits not considered comp it would make the article seem silly
The poor will ALWAYS BE poor. This is how America is today and in the foreseeable future. If this is the case, one may as well surrender their citizenship and move to another country. The grass may not be greener but to say that taxation in the USA is out of control is an understatement!!!
What is your view on this? Are you paying too much taxes? What do you think can be done about this?
I'm reading "The Grapes of Wrath" right now by John Steinbeck. If you haven't ever read it, I'd suggest you do.
Sales tax is regressive in nature but it's not shocking the left out federal income tax becuase that would kill their angle. Further more if you factored in earned income credit and other govt benefits not considered comp it would make the article seem silly
The very wealthy don't get their income in the form of wages, they get it in the form of capital gains, dividends, etc. Yet still they cry about the tax rate they pay on that tiny fraction of their incomes.
Quote:
In 2010, the top 400 taxpayers made 6.4 percent of their income in salaries and wages, down from 16.7 percent in 2000.
The very wealthy don't get their income in the form of wages, they get it in the form of capital gains, dividends, etc. Yet still they cry about the tax rate they pay on that tiny fraction of their incomes.
Are you sure it's the same people complaining? I know several people in the top 1%. They make most of their income in salary (physicians, lawyers, entertainment etc) and pay a TON in taxes. They are nowhere near the top 400 households.
The very wealthy don't get their income in the form of wages, they get it in the form of capital gains, dividends, etc. Yet still they cry about the tax rate they pay on that tiny fraction of their incomes.
Well it's a shame your article concerns the irs and the op concerns state and local. I do understand the cap gains difference. What do the bottom 400 households pay? Or rather what's there effective negative rate?
The old cliche about the Golden Rule ("He who has the gold makes the rules") is alive and well in the US tax system. The whole system is Of, By, and For the rich. Tax rates for the very wealthy have plummeted in the last decade, yet we continually hear how the wealthy are being "taxed to death".
I recall reading a story several years ago where Warren Buffett was talking about how much higher the tax rate was for his $40k earning secretary than it was for himself, and how ridiculous it was. Since then, it's just become more ridiculous. I'd love to pay that 16%-ish rate that the top 400 pay.
The Buffett comments are a lightning rod for the rich as the rich (and corporate apologists) say he is wrong and we are crippled by taxes and that the economy can do better with even lower taxes. Meanwhile in a number of cases there are business who are given tax credits bigger than their tax expense. I'm not saying whether Buffett's comments were true or not but it does start to make you scratch your head.
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