4 ms·

Where in the US are middle class families getting away with 12% in taxes?

nemo44x 5y ago
Yeah at $75,000 your effective tax rate is around 17% in most states with state income tax and probably around 15% in states that do not. Of course this doesn't cover property tax, sales tax, etc. This is a handy calculator to calculate effective tax rates: https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes
- davidgay 5y ago
  That page is not exactly neutral though: it includes FICA (not completely unreasonable, though maybe uncommon) and includes FICA in Household Income (who knows their income with FICA included?).
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Blue collar worker in non-income tax state that doesn't own property and has 2-3 kids is probably going to be around 12-15% overall. That's a pretty small subset of the country, 2-3 states or so. If you use the same book of tricks (i.e. ignore a myriad of local taxes and taxes collected on goods sold) that people around here typically use when trying to make certain high tax states look not too out of line with the national average then huge swaths of the south and midwest would be included.
- jdhn 5y ago
  >If you use the same book of tricks (i.e. ignore a myriad of local taxes and taxes collected on goods sold) that people around here typically use when trying to make certain high tax states look not too out of line with the national average It really irks me when people do that. They also conveniently leave out items such as the average cost of electricity or gas prices.
- jandrewrogers 5y ago
  There are 8-9 states without income tax, not 2-3.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Some of those have other taxes that are high to make up for it hence why I said the number where the all things considered tax burden is down at 12ish percent is probably low single digits.
rmah 5y ago
Median household income in the US is $80k/yr. If you live in say Houston or Orlando a married couple will pay $6,230 in federal income tax + $6,120 in FICA for a total of $12,350 in taxes or 15.4%. If they have children, they will pay less. A lower middle-class couple with similar circumstances making $50k will pay 12.9% in taxes.
- rgrieselhuber 5y ago
  This doesn't take into account property tax, sales taxes, fuel taxes, car registration fees, etc.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Median household income in the US is $80k/yr. No, its not, its about $65K. Though Google’s Knowledge Graph pulls a snippet about the structurally higher median family income if you search for median household income.
paulpauper 5y ago
income tax rates in the US are pretty low, especially compared to the rest of the world. Even if your income crosses into a high bracket, you only pay the higher rate for anything above the threshold, so your effective rate is much lower often. the In addition to various benefits and other programs to help families. There is ton of assistance and other programs.
refurb 5y ago
Plenty. States with low or no income tax, add in SALT and mortgage interest plus 401k deduction. Then tax credits. My brother mentioned he was paying around 10% as a single person with a $50k income a few years back.

Yeah at $75,000 your effective tax rate is around 17% in most states with state income tax and probably around 15% in states that do not. Of course this doesn't cover property tax, sales tax, etc. This is a handy calculator to calculate effective tax rates: https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes

davidgay 5y ago
That page is not exactly neutral though: it includes FICA (not completely unreasonable, though maybe uncommon) and includes FICA in Household Income (who knows their income with FICA included?).

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

Blue collar worker in non-income tax state that doesn't own property and has 2-3 kids is probably going to be around 12-15% overall. That's a pretty small subset of the country, 2-3 states or so. If you use the same book of tricks (i.e. ignore a myriad of local taxes and taxes collected on goods sold) that people around here typically use when trying to make certain high tax states look not too out of line with the national average then huge swaths of the south and midwest would be included.

jdhn 5y ago
>If you use the same book of tricks (i.e. ignore a myriad of local taxes and taxes collected on goods sold) that people around here typically use when trying to make certain high tax states look not too out of line with the national average It really irks me when people do that. They also conveniently leave out items such as the average cost of electricity or gas prices.
jandrewrogers 5y ago
There are 8-9 states without income tax, not 2-3.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Some of those have other taxes that are high to make up for it hence why I said the number where the all things considered tax burden is down at 12ish percent is probably low single digits.

rmah 5y ago

Median household income in the US is $80k/yr. If you live in say Houston or Orlando a married couple will pay $6,230 in federal income tax + $6,120 in FICA for a total of $12,350 in taxes or 15.4%. If they have children, they will pay less. A lower middle-class couple with similar circumstances making $50k will pay 12.9% in taxes.

rgrieselhuber 5y ago
This doesn't take into account property tax, sales taxes, fuel taxes, car registration fees, etc.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Median household income in the US is $80k/yr. No, its not, its about $65K. Though Google’s Knowledge Graph pulls a snippet about the structurally higher median family income if you search for median household income.

paulpauper 5y ago

income tax rates in the US are pretty low, especially compared to the rest of the world. Even if your income crosses into a high bracket, you only pay the higher rate for anything above the threshold, so your effective rate is much lower often. the In addition to various benefits and other programs to help families. There is ton of assistance and other programs.

refurb 5y ago

Plenty. States with low or no income tax, add in SALT and mortgage interest plus 401k deduction. Then tax credits. My brother mentioned he was paying around 10% as a single person with a $50k income a few years back.