I really wish that analysts would look at the Total tax burden, and include SS taxes, taxes on tires, phone bills, etc and not just income taxes. As a self-employed individual, I have to pay a higher percentage in total taxes than the 1 per centers. I am not saying that they need higher taxes, but it is time to look at the entire burden, not a part of it.
See post #14
I just paid 18.43% tax on a six pack of beer. I’m sure if my total tax burden i.e. gas taxes, property taxes, sin taxes, vehicle taxes, utility taxes, sales taxes, service taxes, income taxes, school taxes, etc were calculated, it would be around 50% of my total income going to one government or another. Spending needs to be cut and the parasites need to become useful members of society. If they can’t manage it, they need to go to prison where they can’t reproduce and their parasitic activity can be minimized. Parasitic infestations, if not eliminated, ultimately kill the host organism and that is what is happening here.
My daughter (28) was complaining yesterday about having to pay her car tax every year in NC. We started talking about how there are so many more taxes than income tax and how that is never brought up when discussing taxes. I would love to know the total taxes on everything we pay per year. I’m sure it would be depressing.
When ‘Progressives’ screamed about the lowering of rates, they NEVER do the math with all the other taxes that State and local officials dream up.
Here in Ohio, we have a CAT (Commercial Activity Tax) for businesses. We are currently preparing our 2290 (FHUT- Federal Highway Use Tax) @ $550 per truck. And we used to manufacture specialty agricultural trailers and pay a 12% Federal Excise Tax on the TOTAL purchase price(even on the initial profit which is also subject to income taxes).
The total Revenue of ALL (Federal, State, and Local) governments was 38% of GDP in 2007. I guarantee that it will NEVER get that high again. People are consciously altering their behavior to avoid (not evade)all tax burdens.
Being self-employed, you probably feel like you are paying double the social insurance taxes, but the CBO considers all social insurance taxes to be paid by the employee -- in other words, the "employer's share" is really just another payroll cost.
No, it doesn't include state and local taxes. But, the CBO compiles this information to document the effects of federal tax policy. If you want to know about state taxes, you should be looking to the state(s) to compile that information.
However, if you look at the actual numbers, I think you would be hard pressed to claim that you actually pay a higher average federal tax rate than the top 1%'s. There's a pretty sharp contrast between the overall average and the top 1% (and the top 5%, too).
As a whole, the group still gets a significant portion of their income from ordinary sources that are taxed at the highest marginal rate. Yes, there are undoubtedly some high income tax payers that pay only the minimum dividend and capital gains taxes, but that income has already been taxed as corporate profits (and their share of corporate income taxes reflects that).