Originally Posted by IllTestYourGirls (Post 17292966)

Yeah it should be. 0% of X is what?

Originally Posted by brentbacardi (Post 17292937)

1. Our country survived without an income tax for many years. Its not a necessity to run government. Some states still do not have income tax yet still manage to have state governments and programs.

Originally Posted by Titan (Post 17292963)

It doesn't really apply to people who make big money already. If you make 750k u are in the top 1% already. Its for people who make an average salary of say 45k a year and are looking to go up. Any money you make above that amount has a very steep tax rate. Why work harder when the government will just take 40% of any extra money you make when you can be lazy and only get taxed 10%?

Originally Posted by Titan (Post 17292963)

It doesn't really apply to people who make big money already. If you make 750k u are in the top 1% already. Its for people who make an average salary of say 45k a year and are looking to go up. Any money you make above that amount has a very steep tax rate. Why work harder when the government will just take 40% of any extra money you make when you can be lazy and only get taxed 10%?

Originally Posted by mynameisjim (Post 17292970)

The wealthy pay roughly half the taxes they paid in the 1950's. It's just that their income has risen so fast relative to the middle class that even with their effective tax rate cut in half, they pay more than everyone else combined now.

This isn't a tax issue, it's an issue where the wealthy are running away with all the money while middle class wages are falling.

Originally Posted by Atticus (Post 17292992)

Because it is a tiered tax system and doesnt jump from 10 to 40%. For simplicity sake we'll use real basic numbers. Say you make $50k and 0-$25k is taxed at 10% and $26k to $50k is taxed at 20%. So far you've paid $7500 in taxes. If the next $25k ($51k to $75k) of earnings rises to 30% instead of the 20% the $26k to $50k in earnings were taxed you're paying an additional $2500 in tax ($7500 versus $5000).

So if someone decides there not going to work anymore (but have the ability and time) to make $25k more in earnings and pocket an additional $17500 after tax just because the tax rate went up an additional 10% for that tier they're either an idiot or lazy.

A tiered system might not be fair but to use it as an excuse to not work is ridiculous.

Originally Posted by DavieVegas (Post 17292184)

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/24944.html

Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes.

Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007?the most recent data available?the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.

Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.

To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent is comprised of just 1.4 million taxpayers and they pay a larger share of the income tax burden now than the bottom 134 million taxpayers combined.

Some in Washington say the tax system is still not progressive enough. However, the recent IRS data bolsters the findings of an OECD study released last year showing that the U.S.?not France or Sweden?has the most progressive income tax system among OECD nations. We rely more heavily on the top 10 percent of taxpayers than does any nation and our poor people have the lowest tax burden of those in any nation.

We are definitely overdue for some honesty in the debate over the progressivity of the nation's tax burden before lawmakers enact any new taxes to pay for expanded health care.

Originally Posted by Titan (Post 17292963)

It doesn't really apply to people who make big money already. If you make 750k u are in the top 1% already. Its for people who make an average salary of say 45k a year and are looking to go up. Any money you make above that amount has a very steep tax rate. Why work harder when the government will just take 40% of any extra money you make when you can be lazy and only get taxed 10%?

Originally Posted by DavieVegas (Post 17292184)

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/24944.html

Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes.

Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007?the most recent data available?the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.

Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.

To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent is comprised of just 1.4 million taxpayers and they pay a larger share of the income tax burden now than the bottom 134 million taxpayers combined.

Some in Washington say the tax system is still not progressive enough. However, the recent IRS data bolsters the findings of an OECD study released last year showing that the U.S.?not France or Sweden?has the most progressive income tax system among OECD nations. We rely more heavily on the top 10 percent of taxpayers than does any nation and our poor people have the lowest tax burden of those in any nation.

We are definitely overdue for some honesty in the debate over the progressivity of the nation's tax burden before lawmakers enact any new taxes to pay for expanded health care.