4 ms·

Taxes are already too high in NYC. A single adult in NYC with a $100k salary has an effective overall tax rate of 31.5%, and 9% of that is city and state. Tryi

by cwhiz 5y ago

Taxes are already too high in NYC. A single adult in NYC with a $100k salary has an effective overall tax rate of 31.5%, and 9% of that is city and state. Trying to raise the rates higher is insane. We have a spending problem, not an income problem. Not to mention that the timing of this is just absurd. Everything that makes NYC great has been closed for a year. The next mayor wants people to pay more, but won’t commit to reopening the city? Why would the “rich” stay? Why would anyone stay? For the trash, and piss?

stuaxo 5y ago
That's a way lower effective rate than ordinary people pay.
- cwhiz 5y ago
  Do you think someone earning $100,000 in NYC is not an ordinary person?
titzer 5y ago
In Germany, you'd be paying 42%. You'd get subways, a national rail system, universal healthcare, and college would be free. America doesn't have a "spending" problem, it has a history of mal-investment and neglect. But those F-35s. And nukes! Enough to wipe out most of humanity.
- cwhiz 5y ago
  Not a spending problem. Proceeds to list things that we spend and invest unnecessarily on. We have a subway system in NYC. Run by the MTA. A bloated and incompetent organization that needs a billion dollars to extend a subway line a single mile, and will routinely spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary bridge painting and other shenanigans. There’s a reason we don’t have nice things, and it’s not because our taxes are too low. Edit: It is actually $3.5 billion for a mile.
  - titzer 5y ago
    A billion dollars a mile is because corruption.
    - cwhiz 5y ago
      Call it whatever you like. The MTA spends $17 billion per year. And we get rickety subway service and piss stained stations that make you feel as if you’ve traveled in time back to the 80s. How much does Germany spend per year on rail?
      - titzer 5y ago
        I don't know which city would be most comparable to New York, but Germany recently announced 120+ a billion dollar investment in upgrading rail infrastructure nationwide[1]. The high-speed rail connnection between Berlin and Munich cost 10 billion Euro. Even then, it was criticized for being over budget. It travels at 200km/h+ and is over 600km long. I think that project is completely infeasible in the US, at any price. It seems like a bargain to me. Of course, high-speed long-haul lines are a different thing than subways. I lived in Munich for several years and I can say firsthand, subways are magical. As an American, it's embarrassing we cannot dig holes. It's not because money. [1] https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/2020/01/germany-announces-plans-to-spend-125-billion-on-rail-in-next-decade https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/...
        cwhiz 5y ago
        That’s $125 billion over a decade. Less per year than the MTA spends on a single city. You said it’s not a spending problem, but it sure seems like a spending problem, no?
        titzer 5y ago
        NY does not seem to be getting a good bang for its buck.
  - 5y ago
- dash2 5y ago
  Those nukes, and associated military spending, prevented all of Germany becoming East Germany.
- iso1631 5y ago
  $100k is £72k, in the UK you'd be paying 30% (£22k). 36% if you're still paying off your student loan (which would be about 6 years to repay the fees and another 7 to repay the cost of living loans) UK has nukes too
- prh21 5y ago
  Person from Germany here. The 42% is the top rate so that on 100 k$ the effective rate would be less than that. Healthcare costs come on top of that. Free college is included.
  - titzer 5y ago
    45% is the top rate. 42% kicks in 57k income. 45% at 274k. You're right that the effective rate might be less for $100k, but not much. The curve is quite steep. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany#/media/File:Income_Tax_Germany_2010.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany#/media/Fil...
    - titzer 5y ago
      Also, VAT is high in Germany.
      - iso1631 5y ago
        Who pays vat? Less than 10% of my monthly outgoings are on VATTable things, and most of that expenditure is because I bought a new car rather than a second hand one.
    - cwhiz 5y ago
      Based on that chart, the effective tax rate is not near 42%. It actually appears to be closer to 31-35%, which is almost exactly what the $100k person in NYC would pay. I think the issue that most non-US citizens fail to realize or comprehend is that most people in America don't pay any tax at all. The labor participation rate is 61.5% and then half of the people that do work still don't pay any effective taxes due to all the credits and deductions. A minority of earners support the entire tax base. ...and then, of course, we frivolously waste the revenue we do generate.
      - titzer 5y ago
        I am a US citizen, and I've lived abroad. Americans are being fleeced, and the entire mindset is that infrastructure is a cost, rather than an investment. It's crazy that we spend so much on "defense". The words of Eisenhower's parting address were not heeded. But, regardless. If I were in charge I would fire the entire management of Amtrak and all Metro rails and just put the Germans, Swiss or Japanese in charge of it.
- csomar 5y ago
  > But those F-35s. And nukes! Enough to wipe out most of humanity. Doesn't these F-35 and nukes give the US trade advantage and wealth transfers (aka free money from unstable countries) and thus make it possible for Americans to be that rich?

by cwhiz 5y ago

stuaxo 5y ago

That's a way lower effective rate than ordinary people pay.

cwhiz 5y ago
Do you think someone earning $100,000 in NYC is not an ordinary person?

titzer 5y ago

In Germany, you'd be paying 42%. You'd get subways, a national rail system, universal healthcare, and college would be free. America doesn't have a "spending" problem, it has a history of mal-investment and neglect. But those F-35s. And nukes! Enough to wipe out most of humanity.

cwhiz 5y ago
Not a spending problem. Proceeds to list things that we spend and invest unnecessarily on. We have a subway system in NYC. Run by the MTA. A bloated and incompetent organization that needs a billion dollars to extend a subway line a single mile, and will routinely spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary bridge painting and other shenanigans. There’s a reason we don’t have nice things, and it’s not because our taxes are too low. Edit: It is actually $3.5 billion for a mile.
- titzer 5y ago
  A billion dollars a mile is because corruption.
  - cwhiz 5y ago
    Call it whatever you like. The MTA spends $17 billion per year. And we get rickety subway service and piss stained stations that make you feel as if you’ve traveled in time back to the 80s. How much does Germany spend per year on rail?
    - titzer 5y ago
      I don't know which city would be most comparable to New York, but Germany recently announced 120+ a billion dollar investment in upgrading rail infrastructure nationwide[1]. The high-speed rail connnection between Berlin and Munich cost 10 billion Euro. Even then, it was criticized for being over budget. It travels at 200km/h+ and is over 600km long. I think that project is completely infeasible in the US, at any price. It seems like a bargain to me. Of course, high-speed long-haul lines are a different thing than subways. I lived in Munich for several years and I can say firsthand, subways are magical. As an American, it's embarrassing we cannot dig holes. It's not because money. [1] https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/2020/01/germany-announces-plans-to-spend-125-billion-on-rail-in-next-decade https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/...
      - cwhiz 5y ago
        That’s $125 billion over a decade. Less per year than the MTA spends on a single city. You said it’s not a spending problem, but it sure seems like a spending problem, no?
        titzer 5y ago
        NY does not seem to be getting a good bang for its buck.
- 5y ago
dash2 5y ago
Those nukes, and associated military spending, prevented all of Germany becoming East Germany.
iso1631 5y ago
$100k is £72k, in the UK you'd be paying 30% (£22k). 36% if you're still paying off your student loan (which would be about 6 years to repay the fees and another 7 to repay the cost of living loans) UK has nukes too
prh21 5y ago
Person from Germany here. The 42% is the top rate so that on 100 k$ the effective rate would be less than that. Healthcare costs come on top of that. Free college is included.
- titzer 5y ago
  45% is the top rate. 42% kicks in 57k income. 45% at 274k. You're right that the effective rate might be less for $100k, but not much. The curve is quite steep. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany#/media/File:Income_Tax_Germany_2010.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany#/media/Fil...
  - titzer 5y ago
    Also, VAT is high in Germany.
    - iso1631 5y ago
      Who pays vat? Less than 10% of my monthly outgoings are on VATTable things, and most of that expenditure is because I bought a new car rather than a second hand one.
  - cwhiz 5y ago
    Based on that chart, the effective tax rate is not near 42%. It actually appears to be closer to 31-35%, which is almost exactly what the $100k person in NYC would pay. I think the issue that most non-US citizens fail to realize or comprehend is that most people in America don't pay any tax at all. The labor participation rate is 61.5% and then half of the people that do work still don't pay any effective taxes due to all the credits and deductions. A minority of earners support the entire tax base. ...and then, of course, we frivolously waste the revenue we do generate.
    - titzer 5y ago
      I am a US citizen, and I've lived abroad. Americans are being fleeced, and the entire mindset is that infrastructure is a cost, rather than an investment. It's crazy that we spend so much on "defense". The words of Eisenhower's parting address were not heeded. But, regardless. If I were in charge I would fire the entire management of Amtrak and all Metro rails and just put the Germans, Swiss or Japanese in charge of it.
csomar 5y ago
> But those F-35s. And nukes! Enough to wipe out most of humanity. Doesn't these F-35 and nukes give the US trade advantage and wealth transfers (aka free money from unstable countries) and thus make it possible for Americans to be that rich?