make it whatever you like. Nobody will ever pay anything close to that. People will use loopholes, lie, cheat, MOVE out of the US. Whatever it takes. Nobody will ever pay that, lol

Or did high (marginal) taxation cause it (prosperity)? You forgot that option, maybe that was too commie or something. :)

Huge percent...if they pay double it would be much better

I've been in the top bracket and it wasnt because I took 4hr lunches and played golf.

There is a point at which your additional work produces marginal additional benefits. The 4 hour lunch and golf thing is a cartoonish exaggeration but if you're a business owner (and you employ people) your management and ideas are generally worth more than your actual physical "work". A medical specialist might be in the top tax bracket and each consultation increases their earnings in a linear fashion but a businessperson increases their income by hiring additional people, outsourcing or investing their money well.
It's possible to be in the top tax bracket and not do THAT much work. It's just that the work is of a different more valuable nature. 2 hours of a boss thinking about strategy can earn more money than a data entry guy working for him for 1000 hours.
That's partially why a higher tax bracket isn't THAT much of a disincentive like everyone makes it out to be. There aren't that many professions that are so highly paid per hour that it's easy to hit $400k and work less.

To the other comments, I bothered replying because you were factually incorrect and engaging in silly hyperbole. Just because I agree that 90% is too high doesn't change the fact some dumb shit was posted.

Do you honestly believe that ANYBODY actually PAID that tax rate?

The reason it didn't "stifle innovation" was because nobody paid that much.

Back in the days of people like Carnegie, Biltmore, and Rockefeller...they were actually richer than the federal govt. (which is as it should be). Not one of those gentlemen ever paid income taxes...because Federal income tax didn't exist.

Neither did Howard Hughes...income tax did exist in his lifetime, but you can bet your ass he NEVER paid that high of a rate...ever. Didn't matter what the rates were, people just never paid that.

The period of "unquestioned American glory" had a federal govt. that wasn't a giant overbloated monster.

Surely to God you don't think they need even MORE money do you?

Right now Bill Gates is the richest man in America. He is worth 81.8 billion dollars.

The United States Federal Govt. spends that much in less than 8 days!!!!!!

Why the hell would you want to take money from people and give it to the Feds????

So they can bomb and kill even more people around the world? Don't they take enough of people's money already?

The U.S. govt. doesn't earn any money. It TAKES it from people.

And how would YOU like it if every dollar you earned...the Federal govt. took 90 cents of it. And THEN the city tax, county tax, property tax, and sales taxes...you would literally be working to LOSE money.

It's a joke. Nobody COULD pay 90% federal taxes. The math just wouldn't add up after all those other taxes (and don't forget the Obama Care "tax" either...plus paying all of your employees matching taxes and of course Social Security taxes)

If you've ever made any real money...you know what I'm saying.

Oh Robbie, your poor reading skills are coming to the fore again. I've already said several times 90% is too high and I wouldn't want to pay it. Don't know how you missed it. I can however appreciate how it might work on a hypothetical (and historical) level without slobbering about communism and the 'gubmint which was my original issue with the comments in the thread.

Robbie, I was in the top tax bracket in my country when I was TWENTY. I've run several businesses for well over a decade, I have employees and multiple properties, unlike some I'm not talking out of my hat.

I would support marginally higher taxes if the money was spent on infrastructure, education and anything with a decent return on investment for the country. A lot of that though would be closing corporate tax loopholes that has allowed them to shift the tax burden onto ordinary people and getting money out of politics.
Put it this way, I would still work and innovate at 50% top tier tax rates. I'd still look at doing everything I could to minimise my tax though, I wouldn't be HAPPY about it. but if I could see a long term benefit to the country, with less people trying to steal my car and more people buying my products, I don't mind a bit of welfare. My guiding principle is enlightened self interest. I'm not so strapped for cash that I see every dollar lost as some sort of crime. I have the ability to be a bit financially comfortable and above the fray to look at the big picture.

That's very impressive.

I still stand 100% by my statement that NOBODY in the U.S. during the "glory years" ever actually paid those tax rates. It's impossible to pay the feds 90%, the city another percentage, pay property taxes, pay state income tax, etc. You would be paying in around 120% in taxes. It's impossible.

So your declaration of how great the "rich" did with 90% tax rates isn't correct. They never paid those rates.

And if you think you could pay 50% in just federal income tax and just keep right on rolling...I would say you haven't took the time to do the math on that.

Here in the U.S. that definitely wouldn't work.
If I had to pay an actual 50 cents of every dollar I earned just in federal income tax I would go broke.

Why? Because then I still have to pay Social Security tax. And then MATCHING funds for every employee.
And then property tax. And then city taxes. State taxes. Fuel tax every time I go get some gasoline. And of course sales tax on every last thing I buy.

It's insane how much you actually pay in taxes.
How much tax do we really pay?

According to that chart if you paid only 17% in federal income taxes...you are still ACTUALLY paying 43% in overall taxes to different govt. entities.

So quick math says that all taxes other than federal equal about 26% on average.

So if I had to actually pay 50% with no deductions to the feds...I would in reality be paying 76% in overall taxes.

Brother...I don't want to work every day of my life to only hold 24% of what I EARNED.

The govt. doesn't earn a goddamn thing. They take it from us.

That's the way I see it.

And every dollar the govt. takes from you is one less dollar that you could use to do things for yourself, your wife, your kids, your family, and to expand your business.

And what does the govt. do with the money?

Let's see, here in the U.S. they spy on us. They make defense contractors extremely wealthy. They use those weapons to invade other countries and kill people worldwide.
And of course funnel money back to their home states to their cronies in the form of pork barrel spending.

And the majority of the money that is earmarked to actually HELP people? It's mostly spent on...you guessed it: administrative costs. Which translates into more bureaucrats making a living sucking off of hard working people like you.

It's disgusting to me. :(

yeah

http://img-9gag-ftw.9cache.com/photo/a5NGmVE_700b.jpg

:) :upsidedow

Obviously, unless you get paid for the lunches and golfing.

Well for a start it wouldn't be 50% of every dollar, it would be 50% of every dollar over $400k. That's a big difference. If you earn $400k you only pay a bit over a quarter of every dollar in federal taxes assuming no deductions (and there always is). BTW I think they did a study a few years ago where they said the "money that buys happiness" level was around $350k/pa.

I also never said no deductions. I said no corporate loopholes, no Double Irish Dutch Sandwiches. I believe I do a good by employing people in my town, but I don't think the taxes they pay and the stimulus their wages provide should be the only benefit.

I will admit our tax system is different to yours though. We pay 45% at the top and 10% GST(like a sales tax on goods and services). Although I pay superannuation (9% social security contribution) for my employees and so on it doesn't add up to 70% or close to it.
But you also have insanely low capital gains rates - 15%! Ours is the top marginal rate you pay unless you've held the asset for more than 12 months in which case it's half the marginal rate. So if you're in the top bracket it's 45% or 22.5% if you've held it for 12 months which you often don't do share trading.