I'd consider the 32% bracket folks rich by most standards but would be OK keeping them there. The 35 & 37 folks I'd raise to like 42 & 50. Maybe keep it under 50 so they don't whine that "the gub'mint takes half my friggin earnings!" Also increase the Social Security taxable wage base to keep it solvent for many years.
Yes, that was deferred equity awards on Musk’s part but he eventually had to exercise otherwise forfeit. This resulted in a personal tax bill for Elon if $11B in 2021, not to be confused with tax bills for Tesla ($0). https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/investing/elon-musk-tesla-zero-tax-bill/index.html
I'm all for a flat rate without all the loopholes that were effectively written by rich people for rich people.
I think the issue is that the "analysts" ignore the times when the President puts his thumb on the scale in favor of the corporations because it is done behind closed doors, or via the creation of laws that favor corporations over unions.
I'm guessing that you mean flat but graduated rates, as opposed to (say) 15% for everyone, from the first to the last dollar earned.
Yes. For example, if the current rate is 37% for that bracket, then tax them 37% without all the loopholes that allow them to pay nothing (as a certain former president is reported to have done).
Wait just a cotton pickin' minute here-- that bottom 50% that pay only a 3% rate? Those sales taxes make for a big big boost in their actual burden. Here, they have just made it apply to dental work too-- I just had to have a crown redone--1500-- and the tax added on bumped it to almost 2 grand. Lotta money to find on SSI... What does it pay for? Schools/libraries, hospitals/ambulance, and the old age home.
Yes and yes. The poor/lower middle class are hit by sales taxes, (indirectly through their rents) property taxes and sometimes by state taxes that are flat and have low exemptions. But not much in federal taxes. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/ear...ay-zero-in-federal-income-taxes-for-2021.html
I grew up in a Mass. town near the Conn state line. Mass. doesn't charge sales tax on clothing and food, since that is a necessity for everyone. Connecticut does, and while they pay lower income tax, the poor are hit hardest with this, since there's no avoiding it. If you have to pay sales tax on your new Yacht, you can cry me a river.
New York charges a "mansion tax" on sales of properties that cost more than $1 million. Which makes this 800 square foot unit in Harlem a mansion. https://streeteasy.com/building/the-sandstone/1 In fairness, it has been newly renovated.
Yep I had that problem when I sold my system l apartment in Harlem. I had lots of offers for $999,999 but nobody wanted to pay the mansion tax.
The house we recently started renting would sell for over a million. It’s a perfectly normal 3 bed 2 bath house. I hope if California ever institutes a similar law they at least have the good sense to adjust the number periodically based on the housing market.
New York's tax was set by Daddy Cuomo, in 1989. (I thought it was a city tax, but nope a state tax.) $1 million then, $1 million now. They make 'em smarter in California, I guess. Well except for Proposition 13.
Yeah, a million bucks can buy you a pretty nice home in an upper-middle-class suburb of a major city with a good school system, but it's hardly something that Robin Leech (the most appropriately named man in showbiz) would have featured on his show. Of course, in 1989, a million-dollar home really was something special, but they should have adjusted the figure to keep pace with modern times.
The individual income tax has maximum marginal tax rate of 37%. But the ultra-rich earn their big money on capital gains, which have a maximum marginal tax of 20%.
I did say “hope.” My wife and I were just talking about prop 13, she has some older coworkers who are benefiting significantly, and even they acknowledge how dumb it is.
In the mid Nineties, I moved into one of Chicago's fanciest suburbs. At the time, no house had ever sold for $1 million in our elementary school district. (The first one occurred shortly after we moved in, and nope it wasn't us.) So yeah. A million bucks was a thing.
23.8% with the Medicare surcharge, plus most states (all?) tax capital gains as ordinary income. So the effective rate for high earners will often exceed 30%. But yeah, certainly less than the overall ordinary income rate.
Ultra rich also look forvqualified dividends which also are max 20% federal (majority of cases). Capital gains can be offset by capital losses which happened to a large extent last year due to the crappy year in the stock market. Supposedly, the impact on Federal tax revenue for the tax year was a reduction of 10% due to less capital gains revenue. Hopefully market doesn’t tank here at year end although looking a little wobbly.
let them eat cake… I always thought it strange that the tax payer had to figure out how much he owed in taxes… then the Gov would pass judgement on his calculations if the Gov knows how much I owe, why doesn’t it tell me at the start and save me the hassle?! a flat rate (with several levels for higher income) would save the taxpayers lots of $$ in filling fees and go a long way in eliminating loopholes that usually serve the richer filers
One of the reasons we moved to Oregon 7 years ago was no sales tax. And no! We don’t pay anymore in property taxes than we paid in WA, north of us or CA to the south.