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I would ask, what courts, tax laws, civil laws, etc are you referring to? Of course they impact the outcome, but which of those do you think is unfair or antit
by tuna-piano 9y ago
I would ask, what courts, tax laws, civil laws, etc are you referring to? Of course they impact the outcome, but which of those do you think is unfair or antithetical to my point about the free market?
I think the tax thing is a huge misconception that just isn't backed up by reality. The US still has a progressive tax system, even after taking into account the many rules (or the mysterious and nefarious "tax breaks" that everyone alludes to).
The top 1% have around 20% of the income, but pay 40% of the federal income taxes!
Real federal income tax rate paid:
Top 1% - 27%
Top 5% - 23%
Top 10% - 21%
Top 25% - 18%
Top 50% - 16%
Bottom 50% - 3.45%
https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2016-update/ https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-...
- dmuch 9y agoWell duh,the top 1% have more that 27% of the wealth...
- keketi 9y agoIncome taxes are paid on... income.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Chinjut 9y agoIncome's value is… diminishing with existing wealth. Receiving 20% of the income and having an amazingly outsized 40% of the wealth is more than enough reason to consider seeking funding from the 1% rather than their far poorer countrymates.
- Retric 9y agoTop 1% pays ~15% of total federal income taxes. Your numbers ignore Social security which provides ~34% of total federal revenue and cap at 120k vs a minimum 465k to make it into the top 1%. It's also clearly income tax while 'income taxes' provide ~47% of the federal revenue. PS: Social Security pays money for blind people who have never worked, it's in no way a just a 'retirement' fund and is simply general welfare under a new name.
- boomboomsubban 9y agoThe federal income tax is a small part of the annual taxes paid in the US, you aren't showing enough information to provide more than a guess about how fairly the tax system is working.
- refurb 9y agoLook up the total federal tax rate, it's available. It's not skewed as much as just federal income tax, but it's still significantly skewed. The top 5% pay 53% of all federal taxes including social security and Medicaid.[1] [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15573269 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15573269
- boomboomsubban 9y agoFederal tax is still a small chunk of the taxes paid in America, it's still guesswork and the "tax breaks" are even more prevalent there.