2 ms·

The top 10% of the earners in the US are paying 72% of the taxes collected. I'd assume most of the posters here from the US fall into that category. ($178k/year

by vondur 10mo ago

The top 10% of the earners in the US are paying 72% of the taxes collected. I'd assume most of the posters here from the US fall into that category. ($178k/year AGI). Are you willing to pony up more of your income for taxes?

1659447091 10mo ago
> Are you willing to pony up more of your income for taxes? The taxes don't have to come from income, there were plenty of tax cut extensions + some new ones that could have been let go without increasing the individual upper-middle-to-lower wealth class taxes and greatly cut down budget deficit with the increased revenue. Instead the extensions of the 2017 cuts are going add some 3.7 trillion over the next 10 years.
drcongo 10mo ago
I pay as much tax as I can, and claim for none of the allowances I could. Some people actually understand that their tax is important. edit: I'm not in the US, but there's a lot of brits with your attitude too.
- nojvek 10mo ago
  I was of that mindset until I learned how currencies and central banks work. The government doesn't need our tax money. US dollars aren't a fixed resource. With fractional reserve banking and interest rates, central bank controls how much new money is entering the economy. Taxes are a way to take some money out of the economy. However the economy runs warm at 2-3% inflation on average. Economy can technically run without any taxation if inflation is kept under control, and productivity of goods and services is going up. State and city institutions get loans just like we do, sometimes at lower interest rates than individuals can. During covid, loan rate was lower than inflation. That is essentially free money. It's a complex subject. We've been all told that US debt is a massive timebomb that will explode, however many other countries have higher debt:gdp ratio. I'm not saying one shouldn't pay their taxes. I'm saying don't pay more tax than you need to. US govt can create money out of thin air either via congress approval or fed interest rate.
  - drcongo 10mo ago
    It's an interesting point, but "US govt can create money out of thin air either via congress approval or fed interest rate" has spectacular knock-on effects that you'd need to wilfully ignore. I recommend David Graeber's `Debt: The First 5,000 Years` for some good reading on the subject.

by vondur 10mo ago

1659447091 10mo ago

> Are you willing to pony up more of your income for taxes? The taxes don't have to come from income, there were plenty of tax cut extensions + some new ones that could have been let go without increasing the individual upper-middle-to-lower wealth class taxes and greatly cut down budget deficit with the increased revenue. Instead the extensions of the 2017 cuts are going add some 3.7 trillion over the next 10 years.

drcongo 10mo ago

I pay as much tax as I can, and claim for none of the allowances I could. Some people actually understand that their tax is important. edit: I'm not in the US, but there's a lot of brits with your attitude too.

nojvek 10mo ago
I was of that mindset until I learned how currencies and central banks work. The government doesn't need our tax money. US dollars aren't a fixed resource. With fractional reserve banking and interest rates, central bank controls how much new money is entering the economy. Taxes are a way to take some money out of the economy. However the economy runs warm at 2-3% inflation on average. Economy can technically run without any taxation if inflation is kept under control, and productivity of goods and services is going up. State and city institutions get loans just like we do, sometimes at lower interest rates than individuals can. During covid, loan rate was lower than inflation. That is essentially free money. It's a complex subject. We've been all told that US debt is a massive timebomb that will explode, however many other countries have higher debt:gdp ratio. I'm not saying one shouldn't pay their taxes. I'm saying don't pay more tax than you need to. US govt can create money out of thin air either via congress approval or fed interest rate.
- drcongo 10mo ago
  It's an interesting point, but "US govt can create money out of thin air either via congress approval or fed interest rate" has spectacular knock-on effects that you'd need to wilfully ignore. I recommend David Graeber's `Debt: The First 5,000 Years` for some good reading on the subject.