Quote:
Originally Posted by tater
The PERCENTAGE the rich pay is at a high. Not the amount. It has squat to do with "stagnation" since the lower 60% already pay basically nothing (the middle 20% matter slightly, but pull way less than their share, and the bottom 40% pay nothing). The rich pay more for a number of reasons. Fewer loopholes (and AMT), and yes, more taxpayers in the "rich" bracket as well. The lower classes are paying an all time low in income taxes. Literally less than zero for many.
|
No. The
proportion maybe at a high (and yes, that has everything to do with rising incomes), but the effective tax rate is not:
Taxes are a tricky thing. The top marginal rate only matters to the people whos earn enough to have to pay it. Raise it too much, and they shelter more money as they have more opportunity to do so. Lower it, and it doesn't really matter as they don't pay it anyways because they've sheltered the money. The ones that really matter are the lower tax brackets. Everyone (even the rich) pays those. Lower those and you're bringing in less money from everyone. Raise those and you're putting the thumbscrews to everyone, and especially the people without the tax shelter opportunities the rich enjoy.
I say eliminate the loopholes. And sorry for derailing the thread.