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I suggest returning the Federal Income tax back to the rate structure of 1950. I also suggest taxing all income from all sources at the same rates after deducting the 85th percentile income.
This would place the burden of operating the country on the people that OWN the country.
The long-term data show that under current tax and economic rules, the incomes of the top earners rise when the economy expands and contract during recessions, only to rise again. Their effective income tax rate fell to 16.62 percent, down more than half a percentage point from 17.17 percent in 2006, the new data show. That rate is lower than the typical effective income tax rate paid by Americans with incomes in the low six figures, which is what each taxpayer in the top group earned in the first three hours of 2007.
tax.com: Featured Articles: Tax Rates for Top 400 Earners Fall as Income Soars, IRS Data (http://www.tax.com/taxcom/features.nsf/Articles/0DEC0EAA7E4D7A2B852576CD00714692?OpenDocument - broken link)
Right..........................
Unlike members of Bammer's cabinet, I pay my taxes. That amount, with state, federal, social security, and medicare comes close to 50% of what I earn.
Liberal fairytales are the best, as the mean old conservative ogre always gets it in the a**. That is appealing to liberals in more ways than one.
Percentages are important, but 15% of a billion is a lot more than 25% of $80,000. The entire argument is a red herring. The highest marginal rates on earned income kick in at far less than a million in AGI. Capital gains tax should not be confused with regular income tax.
The long-term data show that under current tax and economic rules, the incomes of the top earners rise when the economy expands and contract during recessions, only to rise again. Their effective income tax rate fell to 16.62 percent, down more than half a percentage point from 17.17 percent in 2006, the new data show. That rate is lower than the typical effective income tax rate paid by Americans with incomes in the low six figures, which is what each taxpayer in the top group earned in the first three hours of 2007.
tax.com: Featured Articles: Tax Rates for Top 400 Earners Fall as Income Soars, IRS Data (http://www.tax.com/taxcom/features.nsf/Articles/0DEC0EAA7E4D7A2B852576CD00714692?OpenDocument - broken link)
another post stating the obvious. . . this is a "given" in our current economic and political situation. . . been that way since the Reagan years. . . .and you wonder why the wealthy are so opposed to policies that would benefit the middle class? They've got to keep up with the Rockerfellers!
last year I made 59,800.....paid a little over 3500....got back 6500......ZERO Federal INCOME tax..the fed even pays me to work.....facts
If thats your AGI, expect an audit. LOL. Unless you are not including SS and Medicare taxes, that right there is 13%. That's about $8,000 in taxes @ $60,000.
How about if they earn 10% of the income, they pay 10% of the taxes? Now, they're paying less than 3% of the taxes.
It's not mathematically possible. Unless you think that 100% of their income should go to taxes. LOL.
Not mathematically possible? Then explain how it IS mathematically possible for the top 1% to earn 22.83% of the income, butPAY 40.42% of the Federal income tax revenue.
If thats your AGI, expect an audit. LOL. Unless you are not including SS and Medicare taxes, that right there is 13%. That's about $8,000 in taxes @ $60,000.
Maybe 6 kids? loopholes and more loopholes.
I like the Fair Tax.
no that's not counting ss and medi..they are not INCOME tax..its also not counting STATE taxes
the FACT is that most making under 50k pay hardly anything to zero, and many get back more than they paid, in FEDERAL INCOME TAX
you may call it loopholes
the government has a standard deduction...you can take it, or you can itemize.......
if you have lots of medical bills then you should itemize...anything over 7.5% of you AGI is deductable.....example your agi is 50k... all medical OVER $3750 can count....so if you have 8000 worth of bills for the year you can deduct 4250
state and local income or sale tax can be deducted, also PROPERTY TAX..100% deductable...so if you paid 2200 in state income, you claim that...if your property taxes were 13,000 for the year...you can claim them too..............13000 in property tax deduction is more than the 'standard' deduction for a married joint return(11.4k), and a heck of a lot more than a single (5.7k)
mortage INTEREST(to include points and PMI) ....100% deductable....say you paid 6000 in interest....that's 6k right there
gifts to charity....100% deductable...but many rules on it
and one of the most overlooked...business expenses.....to include getting your taxes done at HRBLOCK.....all deductable after a 2% drop............your job requires you to have uniforms but doesnt supply them (you buy)...deductable....etc
then you have the Exemptions.....3650 for each person in the household.....just you and your wife?? thats 7300 right there...family of 5?? 18,250
the idea is to get the TAXABLE income down low
then you have the credits lines 47-53 on the 1040......did you put insulation, or new windows in you home...its deductable........did you contribute to a 401k...its deductable
and so on
and the you have the EIC..anyone making less than 40k and has a qualifying child can get this too
Like everything else in the book on Capitalism, this quote makes sense. Having said that, it is scary to think that the USA's Gini Coefficient is trending more towards Mexico than towards the rest of the developed world. What does it mean? Greater concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and a shrinking middle class. Good for economy in the long term? Only two kind would agree... those who are rich, and those who are stupid.
As it is, less than 1% of wealth is owned by the bottom 40% in America, while top 1% owns about 40% of it.
And, it is that same bottom 40% that is bearing the brunt of unemployment, so, they will continue to see their earnings fall while the top income earners, who are averaging around 3.2% unemployment will continue to prosper. Meanwhile, I thought it was those top earners who are supposed to be creating jobs. Sounds more to me like they've decided to keep all the wealth to themselves. So much for 'trickle-down' economics.
And, it is that same bottom 40% that is bearing the brunt of unemployment, so, they will continue to see their earnings fall while the top income earners, who are averaging around 3.2% unemployment will continue to prosper.
You might want to rethink that. It's already been established that the bottom 40% have a negative effective tax rate, meaning they get back more from the government than they pay in taxes. The brunt of the income tax is collected from the top. But look at what's happened to income tax revenue:
Quote:
"Other figures in an Associated Press analysis underscore the recession's impact: Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago. Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent."
Meanwhile, look at what's going on with the Social Security and Medicare taxes everyone pays:
Quote:
"Social Security tax receipts are down less than a percentage point from last year, but in May the government had been projecting a slight increase. ...Medicare tax receipts are also down less than a percentage point for the year"
The Federal Government is learning what California has already learned the hard way. It makes no economic sense to depend on a very small percentage of the population to pay the bulk of the income tax revenue...
Quote:
"The basic problem is that our tax system does not reflect our economy. In 2009, California's economic growth declined only by 2.8 percent but our tax revenues were down more than eight times that much. Our economy is diverse, whereas our tax system is not; 144,000 taxpayers pay almost 50 percent of all personal income taxes. Now, think about that -- 38 million Californians have to rely on 144,000 people for their schools, their fire protection, their health care, their public safety and so many other services. That makes absolutely no sense."
Governor Schwarzenegger Delivers 2010 State of the State Address (http://gov.ca.gov/speech/14118 - broken link)
We all know the financial trouble California is in.
Quote:
Meanwhile, I thought it was those top earners who are supposed to be creating jobs. Sounds more to me like they've decided to keep all the wealth to themselves. So much for 'trickle-down' economics.
Note the sharp decline in income tax revenue cited above. The top earners are earning less or are unemployed, so income tax revenue is taking a grossly disproportionate hit.
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