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> The average American pays about $10k in federal income taxes each year. Do you have a source for this? There is absolutely no way this is true. Are you inclu

> The average American pays about $10k in federal income taxes each year. Do you have a source for this? There is absolutely no way this is true. Are you including Social Security contributions as "federal income tax"? Or maybe did you mean the average American household pays $10k each year?

ahelwer 6y ago
Here you go: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/10/07/a-foolish-take-how-much-does-the-average-american-pay-in-taxes/106237216/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/10... Say it's about $10k for federal, for ease of calculation. If it's less, then that means even more people's lifelong contributions are incinerated by a propaganda rag.
- elliekelly 6y ago
  > According to a recent survey of nearly 130,000 American consumers, the average American spends $10,489 each year in federal, state, and local income taxes.
  - ahelwer 6y ago
    I really don't know what you're arguing about here. To repeat myself, if I overestimated how much they paid, then it's even more people whose contributions are incinerated. Yay for my original point I guess?
    - eesmith 6y ago
      I think the argument is that simple numbers don't really mean much, especially when misrepresented. If you have an point to make, it should be correct. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/revenues/ https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-bud... says that payroll taxes and corporate income tax (in 2015) together are about the same contribution to federal income as individual income taxes, which puts a factor of 2 the other way in your estimate.
      - ahelwer 6y ago
        Why are other source of government income relevant here?
        eesmith 6y ago
        Suppose personal income tax contributed 6% to federal spending, and other revenue sources were the rest. Then only $1 million of a program which costs $15 million would come from the "average American".
    - elliekelly 6y ago
      I'm not arguing, that number just seemed shockingly high to me so I suspected it was overstated. It was. That's all.
- cgriswald 6y ago
  In addition to the comment mentioning that it’s conflating federal, state, and local... That’s the average that an American tax payer pays. That’s not what the average American pays. The difference is subtle, but meaningful. If I said, “I am an average American, how much can I expect to pay in federal taxes?” That number will not be $10k.

ahelwer 6y ago

Here you go: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/10/07/a-foolish-take-how-much-does-the-average-american-pay-in-taxes/106237216/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/10... Say it's about $10k for federal, for ease of calculation. If it's less, then that means even more people's lifelong contributions are incinerated by a propaganda rag.

elliekelly 6y ago
> According to a recent survey of nearly 130,000 American consumers, the average American spends $10,489 each year in federal, state, and local income taxes.
- ahelwer 6y ago
  I really don't know what you're arguing about here. To repeat myself, if I overestimated how much they paid, then it's even more people whose contributions are incinerated. Yay for my original point I guess?
  - eesmith 6y ago
    I think the argument is that simple numbers don't really mean much, especially when misrepresented. If you have an point to make, it should be correct. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/revenues/ https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-bud... says that payroll taxes and corporate income tax (in 2015) together are about the same contribution to federal income as individual income taxes, which puts a factor of 2 the other way in your estimate.
    - ahelwer 6y ago
      Why are other source of government income relevant here?
      - eesmith 6y ago
        Suppose personal income tax contributed 6% to federal spending, and other revenue sources were the rest. Then only $1 million of a program which costs $15 million would come from the "average American".
  - elliekelly 6y ago
    I'm not arguing, that number just seemed shockingly high to me so I suspected it was overstated. It was. That's all.
cgriswald 6y ago
In addition to the comment mentioning that it’s conflating federal, state, and local... That’s the average that an American tax payer pays. That’s not what the average American pays. The difference is subtle, but meaningful. If I said, “I am an average American, how much can I expect to pay in federal taxes?” That number will not be $10k.