And WAY lower (income) than under Eisenhower. While we’re talking in Arizona of deporting folks who don’t pay taxes, let’s start at the top. (and forget that BS that 47% made up of those NOT at the top don’t pay)
lala/Trout - Thanks for, once again, bringing up the truth – it gets so tiring because you know the other side isn’t listening, but we need keep doing it.
The best (and often only) way to defeat a lie is keep hitting it with the truth.
47Million households don’t pay any federal income tax. That is 32.6% of total returns filed. You might also want to check Table 5 onwards at the following location for some very interesting insight.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/250.html
Is Arizona trying to remove all of the people “who don’t pay taxes”, OR are they looking for those EVIL people who are perpetrators of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ disaster?
If Arizona is trying to eliminate these EVIL people…. the other states in the US should join them or they will be inundated with these EVIL people.
attyush – I found these data interesting, but I think they need interpretation. For instance, about one third of tax returns don’t pay tax (or even get a little bit back). Why? I can imagine at least two reasons – 1. Some may not make enough money to pay – that could be because of an increase in the number of poor people, or because of an increase in the lowest tax rate. 2. Some may make a lot of money but have very good tax lawyers who can figure out how to keep them from paying taxes. (What’s-her-name Helmsley comes to mind.) The raw numbers don’t tell enough. And in any case, one then has to make a judgment – whatever the reasons may be, is it good or is it bad? But before the judgment kicks in, I need more information.
According to today’s (2 May 2010) Chicago Tribune, the aggregate combined tax rate for the state of Illinois was 9.3%. This includes state, federal and local taxes as well as estimated sales and other taxes. In 1977, pre-Reagan, this rate was 9.9%.
I’m finding this Tax Foundation site quite fascinating. I suspect that I don’t draw the conclusions they would want me to draw. Here’s one item:
“The health care reform bill signed into law by President Obama would take an additional $52,000 on average from families in the top 1 percent of the income scale - on top of the existing income redistribution of roughly $485,000 from those families under current policies, according to a new Tax Foundation report. Families earning an average income of $23,600 stand to benefit the most, by about $2,000 per family.”
I bet they want me to say “Oh, how horrible!!” But I say, great, that’s the way a progressive tax system is supposed to work. I bet the top 1% can afford this without too much pain (what is the income of the top 1%, anyway?, and what percentage is this $52,000?), and the families who are only making $23,000 sure need some help.
“Tax Freedom Day®—the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all federal, state, and local taxes for the year—will arrive on April 9 this year, the 99th day of 2010. Americans will work well over three months of the year—from January 1 to April 9—before they have earned enough money to pay the nation’s tax bill for the year.
This date is one day later than last year’s Tax Freedom Day but more than two weeks earlier than 2007’s date. However, the earlier date is not necessarily cause for celebration. That’s because Tax Freedom Day does not count the deficit even though deficits must eventually be financed. Since 1948, when Tax Freedom Day was first calculated, the difference between what governments are spending and what they’re collecting has never been as great as during 2009 and 2010.
If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working until May 17 before they had earned enough to pay their taxes—an additional 38 days of work.”
Well, that just shows how low the tax rates are in the US.
Here’s information on Tax Freedom Day in various countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxFreedomDay). The first column (after the name of the country) is the number of days, the second is the percentage of income taken in taxes, the third is the date of Tax Freedom Day in that country, and the last is the year.
Hi Bruce – it’s not my decision. I pay taxes in Canada. I file a US return, because I’m a US citizen, but I don’t make any money in the US these days, and my Canadian income isn’t high enough to trigger US taxes.
But those who do pay US taxes, and especially those who complain, ought to know where they stand in the comparison. And those who are seriously interested in paying down the debt might consider moving up a little, not to the top of the list, but say up to 30%, which would still be below – considerably below for the most part – every other country I’ve listed.
lalas almost 14 years ago
Taxes are lower now than under Reagan.
Dtroutma almost 14 years ago
And WAY lower (income) than under Eisenhower. While we’re talking in Arizona of deporting folks who don’t pay taxes, let’s start at the top. (and forget that BS that 47% made up of those NOT at the top don’t pay)
Redeemd almost 14 years ago
Most politicians will go for the arm or leg before trimming the fat.
kennethcwarren64 almost 14 years ago
lala/Trout - Thanks for, once again, bringing up the truth – it gets so tiring because you know the other side isn’t listening, but we need keep doing it.
The best (and often only) way to defeat a lie is keep hitting it with the truth.
comYics almost 14 years ago
But Mr./Mrs. taxpayer, they looovvvvveeee spending your hard earned cash….
WarBush almost 14 years ago
^…On Social programs that work.
petergrt almost 14 years ago
Margaret Thatcher said, that the problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of the other peoples’ money.
Well, I made sure that my money is not going to support the Socialism!
You leftist intellectuals will have to start taxing … .Martians, maybe?
Dtroutma almost 14 years ago
Hey Gorrel, how many of those tax dollars will it cost to clean up after BP???
SherriannPederson almost 14 years ago
This man has been attacked by the perpetrators of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ disaster…………….
attyush almost 14 years ago
@lalas: True. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/151.html
@dtroutma: False. Check http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/25587.html
47Million households don’t pay any federal income tax. That is 32.6% of total returns filed. You might also want to check Table 5 onwards at the following location for some very interesting insight. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/250.html
SherriannPederson almost 14 years ago
Is Arizona trying to remove all of the people “who don’t pay taxes”, OR are they looking for those EVIL people who are perpetrators of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ disaster?
If Arizona is trying to eliminate these EVIL people…. the other states in the US should join them or they will be inundated with these EVIL people.
The ‘Wheel in the Sky Keeps on turnin’…
lonecat almost 14 years ago
attyush – I found these data interesting, but I think they need interpretation. For instance, about one third of tax returns don’t pay tax (or even get a little bit back). Why? I can imagine at least two reasons – 1. Some may not make enough money to pay – that could be because of an increase in the number of poor people, or because of an increase in the lowest tax rate. 2. Some may make a lot of money but have very good tax lawyers who can figure out how to keep them from paying taxes. (What’s-her-name Helmsley comes to mind.) The raw numbers don’t tell enough. And in any case, one then has to make a judgment – whatever the reasons may be, is it good or is it bad? But before the judgment kicks in, I need more information.
attyush almost 14 years ago
@lonecat: I don’t think that the data that you are looking for is readily available. However, some interesting information is present in this report.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-half-of-US-households-apf-1105567323.html?x=0&.v=1
woodnymph558 almost 14 years ago
Ialas, Taxes are NOT lower now then under Reagan. You need to check out the tax rates during Reagan and what we have now
fallacyside almost 14 years ago
Hey, wobble on over to the unemployment line…
runar almost 14 years ago
According to today’s (2 May 2010) Chicago Tribune, the aggregate combined tax rate for the state of Illinois was 9.3%. This includes state, federal and local taxes as well as estimated sales and other taxes. In 1977, pre-Reagan, this rate was 9.9%.
The Tribune’s source was the Tax Foundation.
lonecat almost 14 years ago
I’m finding this Tax Foundation site quite fascinating. I suspect that I don’t draw the conclusions they would want me to draw. Here’s one item:
“The health care reform bill signed into law by President Obama would take an additional $52,000 on average from families in the top 1 percent of the income scale - on top of the existing income redistribution of roughly $485,000 from those families under current policies, according to a new Tax Foundation report. Families earning an average income of $23,600 stand to benefit the most, by about $2,000 per family.”
I bet they want me to say “Oh, how horrible!!” But I say, great, that’s the way a progressive tax system is supposed to work. I bet the top 1% can afford this without too much pain (what is the income of the top 1%, anyway?, and what percentage is this $52,000?), and the families who are only making $23,000 sure need some help.
lonecat almost 14 years ago
Here’s another:
“Tax Freedom Day®—the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all federal, state, and local taxes for the year—will arrive on April 9 this year, the 99th day of 2010. Americans will work well over three months of the year—from January 1 to April 9—before they have earned enough money to pay the nation’s tax bill for the year. This date is one day later than last year’s Tax Freedom Day but more than two weeks earlier than 2007’s date. However, the earlier date is not necessarily cause for celebration. That’s because Tax Freedom Day does not count the deficit even though deficits must eventually be financed. Since 1948, when Tax Freedom Day was first calculated, the difference between what governments are spending and what they’re collecting has never been as great as during 2009 and 2010. If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working until May 17 before they had earned enough to pay their taxes—an additional 38 days of work.”
Well, that just shows how low the tax rates are in the US.
lonecat almost 14 years ago
Here’s information on Tax Freedom Day in various countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxFreedomDay). The first column (after the name of the country) is the number of days, the second is the percentage of income taken in taxes, the third is the date of Tax Freedom Day in that country, and the last is the year.
Norway 210 56.7% 29 July 2007
Sweden 209 57% 29 July
Israel 197 53.8% 15 July 2008
Germany 190 51.73% 8 July 2008
France 197 53.6% 16 July 2007
Belgium 159 43.3% 8 June 2009
Canada 157 42.6% 6 June 2009
New Zealand 141 39% 21 May 2008
Spain 141 39% 21 May 2008
United Kingdom 134 36.7% 14 May 2009
United States 99 26.9% 9 April 2010
lonecat almost 14 years ago
Hi Bruce – it’s not my decision. I pay taxes in Canada. I file a US return, because I’m a US citizen, but I don’t make any money in the US these days, and my Canadian income isn’t high enough to trigger US taxes.
But those who do pay US taxes, and especially those who complain, ought to know where they stand in the comparison. And those who are seriously interested in paying down the debt might consider moving up a little, not to the top of the list, but say up to 30%, which would still be below – considerably below for the most part – every other country I’ve listed.
lalas almost 14 years ago
@ woodnymph – you back up your assertion how? Look at lonecat’s links.