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Dear Toddsterpatriot,

"Don't forget his $1,000,000 salary."

Yeah, but that represents less than 1% of his total taxable income.

"It's safe to say he paid more $$ and a higher rate than any soldier in Iraq."

More money? Certainly! Perhaps more money than many thousands of soldiers put together!! LOL!!

Higher rate? I can't say because I don't really understand how the tax laws apply to folks serving in Iraq, and also, how are you going to count payroll taxes? Are you just going to look at the employee side? Then, if someone is entirely exempt from federal income taxes, the rate they're paying is a nominal 7.65%. But if you're counting the employer side (and I would), then it's nominally 15.3% of salary.

Mr. Gates, on the other hand, is likely paying 35% of his salary and bonus ($350,000), but only 15% of of his dividends (about $45 million on about $300 million). But, if he is able to fully deduct up to 50% of his income in charitable contributions (the AMT doesn't seem to disallow or reduce the deduction for charitable donations, but I'm not altogether sure about that), then it is likely that he paid about $22.5 million in income taxes on dividends, and his overall tax rate is about 7.6%:

Salary and bonus: $1 million Tax: $350,000
Dividends: ~$300 million
Charitable deduction: ~$150 million
Dividends subject to 15%, after deductions: ~$150 million
Dividend income tax: ~$22.5 million
Total tax paid: ~$22.85 million
Total income: ~$301 million
Rate: ~7.59%

For 2004, it looks more like this:
Salary and bonus: ~$950,000 Tax: ~$330,000
Dividends: ~$3.3 billion
Charitable deduction: ~$1.65 billion
Dividends subject to 15%, after deductions: ~$1.65 billion
Dividend income tax: ~$247.5 million
Total tax paid: ~$247.83 million
Total income: ~$3.30095 billion
Rate: ~7.51%

Of course, this is all simplified, and based only on information that is publicly available. The billion shares of Microsoft only account for a little more than half of Mr. Gates' reported wealth of $46 billion. I don't know where the other half is, and I don't know what kind of income it generates.

However, I'd bet that whatever income is generated elsewhere likely results in similar percentages of taxes paid.

sitetest

The below chart shows monthly base pay. A military member may be entitled to other pays, such as a housing allowance (if authorized to live off base), or a monthly food allowance (if authorized to consume meals outside of the chow halls). Unless serving in a designated combat zone, base pay is taxable (federal income tax, social security tax, medicare tax, state income tax, etc). Some states do not tax military pay.

Military base pay is based upon grade (rank) and years of service:

Rank	<2	2	3	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26
E-9	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3769.20	3854.70	3962.40	4089.30	4216.50	4421.10	4594.20	4776.60	5054.70
E-8	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3085.50	3222.00	3306.30	3407.70	3517.50	3715.50	3815.70	3986.40	4081.20	4314.30
E-7	2145.00	2341.20	2430.60	2549.70	2642.10	2801.40	2891.10	2980.20	3139.80	3219.60	3295.50	3341.70	3498.00	3599.10	3855.00
E-6	1855.50	2041.20	2131.20	2218.80	2310.00	2516.10	2596.20	2685.30	2763.30	2790.90	2809.80	2809.80	2809.80	2809.80	2809.80
E-5	1700.10	1813.50	1901.10	1991.10	2130.60	2250.90	2339.70	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90	2367.90
E-4	1558.20	1638.30	1726.80	1814.10	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50	1891.50
E-3	1407.00	1495.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50	1585.50
E-2	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70	1337.70
E-1	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40	1193.40
E-1 with less than 4 months of service					$1,104.00

So you're gonna claim that these guys paid a higher rate than Bill Gates?

Thanks, that's an interesting scenario.

Bottom line for me is that these guys are using their positon to influence young minds that low tax rates are bad. If they have an extra 10 or 20 million, it goes back into our economy, not through the federal filter. That is good for all Americans. Combine this one example with liberal instructors accross the board and it is clear how much hard work we all have to do.

No matter if you agree with the Miers nomination, or not.