“Income taxes” is a term of art used by the IRS. It refers to a specific type of tax on income. It is not the only federal tax on income. Almost everyone who works pays payroll taxes, which are a flat 15.3% of income. There is no exemption for low earners, only for high earners. Those who earn above about 120,000 don’t have to pay any more above that level.
Payroll taxes represent 40% of all taxes collected by the federal government. These taxes are not sequestered-—they pay for all the expenses of government, just like income taxes. So it is not fair to say that people who don’t pay “income taxes” are not paying a fair share of the nation’s tax burden.
Do any of the other forms of taxes offer an earned income credit? Deductions for dropping kids like puppies? Does any lawyer advertise on TV to offer relief from Payroll tax debt?
News flash. People who work pay all the taxes you cited and income taxes on top of that. People who don't work don't pay payroll taxes and get earned income credit for existing.
EITC
The Earned Income Tax Credit gives back most if not all, and then some, of any FICA or payroll tax.
IN THEORY, those “taxes” are more like forced savings - Social Security, medicaid, etc. The fact that Congress steals them and pisses them away doesn’t change that.
And a lot of those people who pay these “payroll taxes” get them back, and MORE in the “Earned Income Tax Credit.”
Slight amendment: 12.4% of the payroll tax stops at the ceiling for FICA, which is $110,100 this year. However, the rate is actually 8.4% this year, due to the temporary reduction in FICA taxes.
The remaining 3.9% is for Medicare, which has no upper limit, at least on wage income.
Neither tax is imposed on unearned income like interest, dividends, and capital gains.