4 ms·

You’re talking about billionaires, right?

refurb 4y ago
No, it's the lowest income earners who pay 0% income tax despite people screaming about how "unfair" the tax system is. The US tax system is highly progressive in terms of rates.
- dwater 4y ago
  If you ignore deductions.
  - refurb 4y ago
    Nope. The IRS publishes effective taxes rates for income quintiles. The effective rate goes up as you go up in income. It is true the effective rate is lower than the statutory rate for a given bracket, but that's true for all income levels.
- yoyohello13 4y ago
  Are you saying we should be taxing people who can barely afford to put food on the table?
  - NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
    I think the basic point is that no-one believes that 40% of all American households are in the "can barely afford to put food on the table" category; and that it's hard to have a well-functioning national democracy if some significant fraction of voters are not invested in funding the national government.
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      I believe it. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/as-prices-rise-64-percent-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/as-prices-rise-64-percent-of... > At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.
      - NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
        The definition of "living paycheck to paycheck" is "couldn't meet their financial obligations if they lost their job". This is nothing at all like "can barely afford to put food on the table".
        ceejayoz 4y ago
        Not quite; it's "immediately couldn't meet their financial obligations", i.e. no significant savings. Again, that means every penny they earn is going back out into the economy.
        NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
        This is the same survey that says that 36% of consumers making over $200,000 also live paycheck-to-paycheck, right?
- NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
  >The US tax system is highly progressive in terms of rates. The most progressive in the developed world, I think?

No, it's the lowest income earners who pay 0% income tax despite people screaming about how "unfair" the tax system is. The US tax system is highly progressive in terms of rates.

dwater 4y ago
If you ignore deductions.
- refurb 4y ago
  Nope. The IRS publishes effective taxes rates for income quintiles. The effective rate goes up as you go up in income. It is true the effective rate is lower than the statutory rate for a given bracket, but that's true for all income levels.
yoyohello13 4y ago
Are you saying we should be taxing people who can barely afford to put food on the table?
- NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
  I think the basic point is that no-one believes that 40% of all American households are in the "can barely afford to put food on the table" category; and that it's hard to have a well-functioning national democracy if some significant fraction of voters are not invested in funding the national government.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    I believe it. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/as-prices-rise-64-percent-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/as-prices-rise-64-percent-of... > At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.
    - NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
      The definition of "living paycheck to paycheck" is "couldn't meet their financial obligations if they lost their job". This is nothing at all like "can barely afford to put food on the table".
      - ceejayoz 4y ago
        Not quite; it's "immediately couldn't meet their financial obligations", i.e. no significant savings. Again, that means every penny they earn is going back out into the economy.
        NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
        This is the same survey that says that 36% of consumers making over $200,000 also live paycheck-to-paycheck, right?
NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
>The US tax system is highly progressive in terms of rates. The most progressive in the developed world, I think?