Sticking to the facts on how we're taxed (YOU ONLY PAY 25% TAX MAX...DON'T YOU GET IT???)

The Seattle Times ^ | 6/4/06 | T. M. Sell

[paulat]

Sticking to the facts on how we're taxed
T.M. Sell

[SNIP]

The richest Americans do not pay 59 percent of total taxes, and nobody pays nothing. Every American pays consumption taxes, such as sales tax and excise taxes, and every working American pays what are called payroll taxes....

Those taxes take a higher chunk of poor people's income than rich people's, if only because the Social Security tax is applied only to the first $87,000 of each person's income.

The personal income tax is called graduated, because the more you make, the more you pay. But the top rate is 35 percent, and you pay 35 percent only on the money you make over the threshold, which is anywhere from about $168,000 to $336,000....

So, for example, if you were married filing separately and your taxable income was $100,000, your tax bill would be $23,723, or a tax rate of 23.7 percent.

The richest Americans, according to the IRS — those who make more than $10 million a year — paid about 25 percent of their income in taxes in 2003. That made up only about 4.6 percent of total tax receipts from personal income.

The roughly 2.5 million Americans who had more than $200,000 in taxable income that year accounted for 40.2 percent of total personal income-tax receipts, a healthy chunk, but that's not exactly picking up the tab for dinner....

In 2004, the top 1 percent of U.S. wage earners — those making more than $373,000 a year — had a 15 percent share of total income and a 33 percent share of total wealth.

The bottom 20 percent — those with incomes of less than $18,000 a year — had a 5 percent share of total income and a minus 1 percent share of total wealth

[SNIP]

[paulat]

Had to take out the word [SNIP] a couple of times to make the word count for an excerpt. Please regard multiple periods as a [SNIP]

Thanks!

BTW...this guy's an idiot....

[xcamel]

TANSTAAFT!

(There aint no such thing as a FairTax)

Double digit taxation for single digit IQ's

*pinglist*

Freepmail me to get on or off.

[stephenjohnbanker]

He is also a LIAR!

[facedown]

T.M. Sell, Ph.D., is professor of political economy at Highline Community College.

Wow, a bona fide expert.

[xcamel]

Anywat.. seen it before, and it's a bit of a stretch.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

UnFair Tax cut-and-paste propaganda to appear in 5...4...3...2...1

[paulat]

I can't wait to see if there are any THINKING people who read The Seattle Times...this piece is a hoot!!!

[PeteB570]

He's working that "payroll tax" issue for the "Poor".

Oh, well, back to work (even though it's Sunday). That welfare family is counting on me.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Bump!

[groanup]

UnFair Tax cut-and-paste propaganda to appear in 5...4...3...2...1

Well, since you brought it up...

[Gaffer]

From what I see in the article, this "scholar" ignores the Medicare assessment (which is NOT limited, even for Millionaires), and confuses mandatory contributory retirement and medical plans with TAXES. A goddam liberal masquerading as a scholar. He also neglects to mention the graduated taxes of higher income people who pay more PERCENTAGE (a word he like to use when it's convenient for him) on the higher portion above poverty level than the cretins he's pandering to in his article.

[spikeytx86]

On the payroll tax;

It is true that the low income and the middle class Americans pay the vast majority of payroll taxes in the country. That said, they also benefit the most from the benefits they are paying in to. Some one who makes a million dollars a year pays a lot less in payroll taxes as a share of income then say a mechanic pulling down $50,000 a year. However the millionaire has a cap on the maximum amount of social security he gets and he most likely will never use Medicare. The payroll tax is really a user fee, the middle and lower classes get more use out of the system thus pay more since they will use more of the benefits.

On sales taxes

The federal government dose not levy sales taxes.

When ever there is a discussion of the income tax the left will always talk about every other tax but the income tax. That is because the wealthy and most productive get screwed and big time. The writer of the article has the cojones to say that 2.5 million people (out of 133 million tax payers) paying 40% of the income tax is no big wup and definitely not unfair. Why cant the poor pay more in taxes? They benefit the most from the services the government provides like free health care, income maintenance programs, student loans and grants, housing programs, school lunches, unemployment insurance,disability insurance, and the list can go on and on. The left loves to call welfare "social insurance" but what insurance policy has anyone ever had that they never paid a dime for? There are some low income individuals who not only pay nothing but actually make a profit off of the tax system! As long as there is a welfare state there needs to be at least a minimum tax. Everyone has a duty to carry the burden of government not just the few and well to do.

[paulat]

He also neglects to mention the graduated taxes of higher income people who pay more PERCENTAGE (a word he like to use when it's convenient for him) on the higher portion above poverty level than the cretins he's pandering to in his article.

...BINGO!!!...and notice the lack of discussion about property taxes!!

[editor-surveyor]

What do you expect from a left wing rag from an ultra-left cesspool like seattle?

[paulat]

Remember...this guy is a prof and he's teachin' our skulls-full-of-mush (who are likely to remain so with this drivel)!!

T.M. Sell, Ph.D., is professor of political economy at Highline Community College.

[Migraine]

The junior college teacher made a couple of points and missed a couple hundred.

[neodad]

What do you expect from a left wing rag from an ultra-left cesspool like seattle?

Ahhhhhh, but they have such good beer!

[sionnsar]

Thanks to paulat for the ping.

Say WA? Evergreen State ping

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.

Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.

[Just Lori]

Their circulation is down, too. I wonder why.....

[ClaireSolt]

Let me clue you in. Employees do not pay taxes. That is a myth. The employer pays taxes in the name of employees as a kind of licensing fee to be in business. If he doesn't pay, the IRS puts him out of business, but the unpaid taxes never become a liability for the worker. The IRS doubles the amount and assesses the business owner.

Nor are taxes deducted from your wages. They must be collected from the first receipts before any wages or overhead are paid.

Both employer and employee negotiate wages in after tax dollars.

What about your refund? Oh that is just a scam to make you think uncle Sam is your friend on April 15.