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Tax Code Skewed in the Rich's Favor

The current tax code is skewed in the rich's favor

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Basic questions to all . which family is more affected..... The family making $80,000 a year at a 30% tax rate ..or a family that makes $1,000,000 at a 15% tax rate ....who pays the higher % out of there income ???????????????? Also the 47% of Americans not paying taxes are elderly , students, the sick ..These people make up the majority of the the so called 47% that do not pay income tax.

This isn't even a argument its rich greedy individuals that need to make billions instead of millions at the expense of others .... Why are there as many loop holes and shelters for middles class and poor , why ???????????? The wealthy are protected more than the middle class and poor with tax benefits ..... FACTS ARE THE FACTS ...

Tim of MD 8:30AM October 11, 2012

Income tax is not inforced properly. If one works for a living why on earth would that be taxed more than investments? What is the value of time out of your life outside of work worth to you? In my opinion, investment income should be taxed at least the same as someone who is actually taking time out of their limited time on earth to make income. Income is taxed, why should there be a "cutoff point." For example, O.K. you taxed this much of my income and to me that is enough. That is my fair share. You can't tax the rest of my income because that would be too much. It is silly to me. To the rich, congradulations and hats off to you but to the ones that feel that they shouldn't have all their income taxed like the average middle class I feel is wrong and greedy. If you look at the graphs of middle class vs. rich on who pays more it is obvious rich pay more. Is that how we should look at it? I don't think so. It should be looked at a percentage of income that should be paid by an individual by the amount of money you make period. The more money you make the more you pay it is as simple as that. The rich will still be rich and the middle class will still be the middle class although some of the rich won't be as rich as they would like to be. Greed is not a good quality.

Bee of MN 1:34PM September 26, 2012

Very disappointing that "total taxes" is never defined here. Federal income and corporate taxes are only 30% of taxes paid in this country. Add in social security and other federal taxes and the federal total comes to 65%. State and local are the last 35%. Social security taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes - all regressive make up 45 % of all taxes in this country.

There is one source that calculates true total taxes (ferderal, state, local including corporate and other indirect taxes) for different groups as a percent of all income: wages plus investment income & gains. See the spreadsheets at http://fairsharetaxes.org

Warren Buffet - 11%

Middle class family-39%

Single minimum wage worker-37%

PeteG of CT 12:17AM August 08, 2012

Fallacy number one: Being rich does not start with those persons making 1 million a year. Your attempt to reframe the original question, "Do rich people pay their fair share in taxes?" is flawed and you failed to address the issue at hand. So your belief is that someone making $999,999 is not rich? What about someone making $800,000?Fallacy number two: The two facts that you state in your opening paragraph are in fact evidence that the rich people pay their fair share in taxes. The top 5% pay 38% and the top 10% pay almost half of the federal taxes in this country and the bottom 47% pay nothing. Is that fair? I think not. Fallacy number: according to your sound analytical approach the bottom 47% have no federal tax burden at all. Is that fair? I think not. Fallacy number four: The fact that all income groups pay about the same share in taxes as they earn as a percentage of total income including the top 1 percent and pay substantially the same tax rates is actually a good thing and by definition is " fair." Fallacy number 5: Your own chart II shows that the top 1%, those you define as rich actually paid more in local, state and federal taxes than any other income group.

This is overwhelming evidence that the relative tax burden falls disproportionately on income groups above the top 5 percent and that the tax incidence of all taxes (federal, state, and local) on the 95 percent is unfairly skewed in their favor. Case Closed.

Tony Garner of GA 4:09PM April 06, 2012

Dan

Pay all your income to the Federal Government and you will sleep well.

Also, please tell me precisely what my "fair share" is?

Once you tell me I will pay it only if people will stop this mindless discussion which only leads to my fair share being anything you or someone says it is any any time for any reason.

Bob Cirincione of MD 2:40PM January 10, 2012

I believe that the rich should be expected to pay higher taxes to ensure that all Americans have basic needs, such as health care. We are all each other's neighbor, and we need to care for each other.

G. Miller of IN 1:48PM January 10, 2012

I completely disagree with your views that the rich need to pay more in taxes. Many people (not just millionaires as assumed) are paying these absurdly high taxes. In fact, people earning more than 250,000 dollars a year have to give more than a third of their income to the government. Also, it is not smart in this recession to take money away from the job creators. The more money you take away from them, the less jobs are created. Finally, it's quite unfair to raise taxes on the rich when 47% of Americans are paying NO income tax.

Olivia Morfas of IN 10:28AM January 10, 2012

I completely disagree with your opinion. The claim that rich need to pay more in taxes is ridiculous as they already have to give about a third of their income to the government, and it's not just the "rich" you are describing. It's people making 250,000 dollars a year who have to pay these absurd taxes. Also it makes no sense to increase taxes on those creating jobs. The more you take away from the job creators the less jobs are created. Finally, its absurd to increase taxes on the "rich" in America when 47% of Americans are paying NO income tax at all!

Olivia of IN 10:21AM January 10, 2012