To Close the Deficit, Federal Income Tax Rates Would Have to Nearly Triple

Tax Foundation ^ | October 22, 2009

[reaganaut1]

Federal income tax rates would have to be nearly tripled across the income spectrum if Congress were to close the deficit in fiscal year 2010, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Instead of taxing joint filers with rates ranging from 10 percent to 35 percent, tax rates would have to start at 27.2 percent and reach up to 95.2 percent.

"Federal government spending levels are so high that even if policymakers were willing to stop debt-financing government services, the federal tax system in its current form wouldn't be able to raise that much," said Tax Foundation Director of Policy and Communications Bill Ahern, who authored the report, "Can Income Tax Hikes Close the Deficit?" The paper is No. 197 in the Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact series and is available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/25415.html.

"If high-income people had to pay a federal tax rate over 90 percent, plus state and local income taxes and other taxes, total tax rates would be well over 100 percent for many households," he said.

If the federal government were determined to close the 2010 deficit, even resorting to higher income tax rates across the income spectrum, the average tax payment of someone making between $75,000 and $100,000 would jump from $7,055 to $20,515. Taxpayers with AGIs over $1 million would see their tax bills climb from $800,000 to almost $2 million.

Even in 2012, when the President's Budget projects a lower deficit, tax rates would still be need to be prohibitively high in order to balance the budget: nearly double, with rates ranging from 18.7 percent to 74.1 percent.

"... the high tax rates necessary to balance the budget in the next several years would discourage all income-producing endeavors," Ahern said.

[coloradan]

I’m in the ~35% tax bracket. So, just tax everyone like me at 105% and all will be well. (Hurl!!)

[coloradan]

Simple, you take away all the money they made and a bit of their savings/investments/house too. Maybe just repossess their car or take their stereo or something. (In addition to taking ALL of their income.)

[Soothesayer9]

Yes, all is well!!
(squish..)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro

[Soothesayer9]

“Spending must be cut, and entire agencies/programs must be eliminated.”

-I would bet law enforcement is in for a rude awakening along those lines.

[GeronL]

The other half could pay 95% and half pay nothing. That might work. lol.

[GeronL]

The article said taxes that high would choke off all productive economic activity, that curve is a hairpin

[blam]

"Since half the people in this country pay zero taxes, and zero times three still equals zero, how would that all work?"

Take all the money from the people who do pay.
They probably got it through White Priviledge anyway.

It will need to be redistributed to be fair.

[Wolfhound77]

How much further can you collapse it? The entire world knows the dollar is worthless already. Their only problem is to figure out how to unload them and still try get something for them. There is now way, we can repay the debt the idiot marxist levied upon us since we don’t produce but only consume, and consume with credit no less. The US will have to default. The world knows this and they are trying to figure out how to deal with it.

[dozer7]

“It is my firm belief that if we had a resonable government”

And if a bullfrog had wings he would not drag his but when he hopped.

[jroneil]

Look at what happen to Iceland last year that is a good example of what will happen to us. Also figure the Chinese ,Japaneses will come in and buy everything up on the cheap and we will be working for them

[RayChuang88]

Man50D,

There are three reasons why I am a big supporter of FairTax:

1) It would bring back most of that US$15 TRILLION in American-owned liquid assets now either participating in the underground economy or sitting in offshore financial centers located beyond the US border, providing a GIGANTIC liquidity boost that will recapitalize many distressed American corporations and even provide a liquidity base to open new loans and lines of credit necessary for real economic recovery and growth.

2) It means far less incentive for American companies to export blue-collar and white-collar jobs for tax reduction reasons. This means millions of jobs return to the USA, and even the infamous Rust Belt loses that moniker as thousands of factories re-open under better tax circumstances. And new jobs will come flooding into the USA as foreign companies take advantage of the USA becoming the world's largest legal tax haven.

3) The resulting economic growth would ENORMOUSLY increase tax revenues via this consumption tax, especially with no more taxes on earning money. The revenue stream would be so big that we could finally defuse the Social Security and Medicare "financial time bombs" and even start to retire the national debt on a massive scale.

In short, FairTax--grown out of the same sentiments that kicked off the American Revolution (students of American history need to remember that famous phrase from that period, "taxation without representation"--gawd, does that apply to way too many people in Congress nowadays! )--will become the most liberating thing to the American economy once it becomes law and replaces our out-of-control income tax system.

[Reverend Wright]

Actually, Canada’s income, corporate and capital gains tax rates are very close the the current US rates.

What is different is this.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4070/rc4070-04-e.html#P479_42307

Deo volente’s warning about a VAT is right on the money!

[RC2]

Yeah I know. It was just a SMALL belief. The question is...”What’s the answer?” We can all sit her and complain but there has to be an answer. If we don’t find one, we may as well all just give up and let them do what they want. Or.....are we entering into a new phase in this world where dictatorship is the name for the day?

[CodeToad]

” A triple digit tax increase would be havoc for them in an election year.
“

From whom? The Democrats already have half the country not paying any taxes. The top 10% of earners pay 50% of the taxes. The top 25% pay 85% of all taxes. They could easily triple those taxes on the top 25% and not affect very many votes for them.

[CodeToad]

“Even smart Libs know this. It just doesn’t win votes.”

You know a smart liberal??

This isn’t 1976 with the average Joe being a blue-collar worker looking for tax breaks. This is welfare America with half the people paying nothing and 75% of the country thinking the “rich” need to be soaked. The liberals have won the war on class warfare. They have convinced 75% of this country that there is this “rich” society that pays nothing and owes them everything.

[Little Ray]

How come these idiots NEVER talk about cutting spending, eh?

[WallStreetCapitalist]

If they could merely BALANCE the budget for 20 years, the natural 3% inflation rate that would result would cut the "real" value of the debt by nearly 50%, solving a lot of the problem. In 50 years, it would have paid off nearly 78% in "real" terms. All without a single extra penny of revenue.

That, of course, would require the nutcases in Washington to stop spending money they don't have.

[griswold3]

Bottom line is, what is the effective tax rate?

[griswold3]

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8885/12-11-HistoricalTaxRates.pdf

1976-2005 ‘Shares of Federal Tax Liabilities’ -(2006)
Since the Dems took over in 2007, apparently there hasn’t been another study done by the CBO. Wonder why?