You intimate that you are self employed. You claim you paid 15.3% Payroll tax and 7.7% Income Tax.
Strange, somehow, a marginal 15.3 plus 7.7% does not add up to 30% isn't it. Once again we watch your masterful use of the Strawman to construct your argument.
Since you probably took advantage of a raft of business deductions, your AGI for the year was probably about $75K.
First error, business expense is never income, it deducts from gross revenue because it comes out of operating capital that is merely being returned to the business put of revenues. One does not consider the principal of a loan for example, to be income as it is returned to the lender.
Neither is operating capital being returned to the business from its gross revenues considered income. That is the reason business "expense" is deducted. It is not in any way income nor does the tax code consider it to be such.
Income is what a business has left after its business expenses, not what it receives as it gross revenue.
But you know that, so why have you chose to characterise it otherwise. Obviously to build your pitiful attempt at once again argue from a fallacy.
You have once again shown your total lack of intellectual integrity. On this one you did not even get out of the first gate of the chute.
You Lose, once again by trying to spin numbers to fit your agenda, rather than engage in an honest assessmen and debate.
Good day to you, you can continue this conversation with yourself from here on out. It is obvious you have an inherent block to ever engaging in any but spin and propaganda.
Ahem ... You earned $1300. Of that you paid $300 in taxes. That calculates to a combined effective tax rate of 300/1300=23.08%. I rounded it to 23%.
Looks like you've tripped over the dreaded "inclusive/exclusive" dilema.
C'mon, don't be so dim. It is PRECISELY because business expense is not income that businesses attempt to categorize as much of their spending as possible as expense. As a SELF EMPLOYED BUSINESSMAN, you probably took deductions for home office use, business use of automobile, meals, and a host of other things. Had you not done that, you would have had to classify those expenses as income to you and paid income tax on them.
Since you didn't specify your income, I took the Tax Stats bracket for a 9% average effective income tax rate of $50K to $75K and figured that your actual income was on the high side of the bracket and your actual tax paid was on the low side of the bracket, because I presume you to be a cunning businessman. If you'd rather be just an average taxpayer, then let's lower your income to about $40K, where 7.7% effective tax puts you and redo the numbers:
Original Gross = $40KThere. Feel better now?
FairTax Gross = $33.9K
FairTax Income equivalent to $1300 original income = $1100
Prebate = $2200
Effective Laptop price = 94.5% of $1260 = $1191
Net Deficit = $91.Net loss in purchasing power = 7.6%
If the laptop was for business use, wouldn't you be able to deduct the cost?