FICA contributions top out at $127k gross income. Someone earning $300k/year is paying the same amount in FICA as someone earning $127k. Which I actually think

FICA contributions top out at $127k gross income. Someone earning $300k/year is paying the same amount in FICA as someone earning $127k. Which I actually think is unfair, but that's another topic entirely. The standard deduction isn't the only deduction available. If you're filing as a married couple and maxing out your 401k and/or IRA you're suddenly saving money and gasp down a couple of tax brackets. A married couple making $100k jointly, and both working jobs with benefits, could put away $36k/year in 401k money alone, which is more than enough for a comfortable retirement after 30 years (and I didn't even take into account any potential employer matching). A couple with one earner can save 23.5k (18k + 5.5k traditional IRA). If you pay for health insurance, more deductions. Ditto for FSA benefits. If you have eligible educational expenses (kid in school/college, spouse getting another degree etc), same thing. If you have receive commuter benefits through work (buying a parking or public transit pass)...you guessed it. (weirdly this is the only deduction you can take for FICA, which is otherwise calculated on gross income). If you're itemizing deductions, there's mortgage interest, state tax, property tax, charitable contributions, car registration fees. I'm sure I'm missing more here because I don't itemize. The point I'm making is, no one takes just the standard deduction. If you're going to add all the other taxes in, you really should count all the deductions you can take too. Add all that in and there's no way you should be paying anywhere close to 30%.