str82u Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 just a thought but does anyone think that they dont pay enough tax? Actually, yes. Not joking here, I seriously believe that US citizens pay far too little in taxes, both federal and local. We have an insanely low tax rate here, and the system gets more favorable the more money you have. Any conscientious society must necessarily have a high tax rate, to fund government programs, by which I do NOT mean military. But, I am changing the subject, aren't I? But, yes. I believe that Americans in general, and myself in particular, are paying far too little in taxes. This is why I vote for tax increases, whensoever they have real benefit, even if I disagree with the proposed method of distribution of the funds. I would agree with this ONLY if I didn't know that in general, the people in control of the tax money are cuorrupt. Pennsylvania itself is so bad, they just had to repeal a pay raise that they snuck in a few months ago. If a few citizens didn't catch it, we'd have never known, and I'm talking about a 10-20% increase in pay, not just a cost of living raise. And here in PA, you pay Federal, State Local AND an occupational Priviledge tax of $53 a year just for working. Plus EVERYONE pays school tax, whether or not you own property or have kids.I can't even get legal aid or afford an attorney to see my 8 year old daughter, but they will throw me in jail for not paying taxes or child support. Only in America baby...anyone know of a non extridition country with low taxes, subsidized health care and lax drug laws?...Just kidding, I don't think I'd want to give up being free white and American, but the free part is questionable. Edit: To answer the question Troy asked, I paid about 25% in taxes, but the step-kids helped me out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveng Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 people in control of the tax money are cuorrupt. Pennsylvania itself is so bad' date=' they just had to repeal a pay raise that they snuck in a few months ago. 10-20% increase in pay, not just a cost of living raise. And here in PA, you pay Federal, State, Local, AND an occupational Priviledge tax of $53 a year just for working. [/quote'] Did you hear the latest news? The PA Government is going after the local newspapers that reported the "Senators/represenatives give themselves a raise" story. How? By doubling the sales tax on Newspaper & advertising. Corrupt. Corrupt. Corrupt. I used to live in Maryland which was referred to as "communist" and "tax heavy", but I think Pennsylvania has now eclipsed Maryland as worse. I'm looking forward to moving back to MD as soon as I can (especially now that they have a Republican governor to veto spending bills). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S0V13T Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 moderation: Moved to mirror universe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drag Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 ..... Also, the profit a company earns would fall under the U.S. income tax. yes... but this is the point.. a company is not a person... it's not "top wagers" (people who earn more than 500k) like it was said that make up most of the money for a country (look at the exact words in the quote)... most of the money come from the what companies, business and very small business pay as taxes. Sure, it's a good size too what everyone pays, but definitely, it's not the majority, or even close to 1/4. besides, think about it, US maintains it's political supremacy over the world because it is the best economy in the world <> the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoumsin Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 (Note: You don't have to answer if you'd rather keep your finances quiet.) I added up ALL my taxes last year. Gasoline. Phone. Electric. Sales. Car. Property. School Tax. And of course Income Tax. I ended up paying $16,000 or about ~35% of my total income. Insane. How much did those of you living in Europe pay? From Belgium, a very little country in Europa... I receive 1643 euro monthly... but my boss have already pay 30% of patronal tax... so, the basis ( money expended by boss ) is 2136 euro From the 1643 euro, i pay almost 14% of RSZ ( sociale tax ) : 214.71 euro From the 1643 euro, i pay a state tax of 294.15 euro ( between 0% and 50% in function of income, composition of family, professional expense,... ) So, after these tax, i have 1134.14 euro... when i remove the city tax, i keep 1076.22 euro... On each product that i buy in shop, you have a tax from 21.5% ... This mean that from the 2136 euro from the boss, 1285.3 euro is return to the state in the form of different tax... it can seem big for American men... but these money is used by our gouverment and allow us to spare a lot in other domain : - health insurance is around 60 euro/year... this pay back around 90% of drugs price, 85% of doctor price and 90% of hospital price... with a complement insurance from 85 euro/year, i am fully pay back for all medical expence for me and all my family... So insurance is several hundred $$$ month for American - in case of illness, loose of work... gouverment pay me 80% of my losing income the first year, 60% the second year, the povrety level the following years... In USA, so private insurance exist but they ask easily 10% of your income - Retirment money is pay by state... proportionel to your life income... this can exist in USA but the money received is enough low and a complement private retirment plan is needed, again some hundred $$$ month... - school, public transport ( bus ) are almost free In both situation, USA or Europa, it is almost similar... no money dissappear or is created... USA is a big country and a private insurrance business can have a lot of customer... this allow them to invest the premie and realise a big "plus value" who is all benefice for the customer... Europa is make from little country... the gestion by the state allow big amount of money, what is needed to invest and receive good interest... So, what you don't pay to the state, you need to pay it yourself... since money don't grow on tree, in both situation, the global result is similar... pay more to state and receive service from state... not pay to state and use private insurrance service... Make the calcul yourself... take you basic income, remove tax, insurance, mortgage, energy price, ... all your fixed expense... and see how much stay for enjoy life... almost the same on both side of the ocean... and it is not a big amount :( EDIT : in my case, i am able to spare around 350 euro month... not so bad for a low income... but i have no debt... this help a lot ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synexo Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Also it's a popular myth the the richer you are, the less you pay. Here's the Fact: 99% of all Income taxes collected by the U.S. IRS are funded by the top 1% of wage earners (people earning $500,000 or more). (source: IRS website) Put another way, people earning less than $500,000 are only supporting 1% of the U.S. Treasury. This is a false statistic, and was not found on an IRS website. I myself only pay about $3000/year in income tax, and I earn less than the average wage earner. If 99% of the other 100 million or so americans that pay income tax pay even that little, then it adds up to nearly $300 billion, which would be about 1/4 or 1/5 of the total budget. Therefore the other 1% could at best be contributing about 80% of income tax revenue. Of course many people earn much much more and pay much more in taxes but still earn under $500,000/yr, so it must be true that the top 1% contribute an even lesser share of the total than 80%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDad Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Also it's a popular myth the the richer you are, the less you pay. Here's the Fact: 99% of all Income taxes collected by the U.S. IRS are funded by the top 1% of wage earners (people earning $500,000 or more). (source: IRS website) Put another way, people earning less than $500,000 are only supporting 1% of the U.S. Treasury. This is a false statistic, and was not found on an IRS website. I myself only pay about $3000/year in income tax, and I earn less than the average wage earner. If 99% of the other 100 million or so americans that pay income tax pay even that little, then it adds up to nearly $300 billion, which would be about 1/4 or 1/5 of the total budget. Therefore the other 1% could at best be contributing about 80% of income tax revenue. Of course many people earn much much more and pay much more in taxes but still earn under $500,000/yr, so it must be true that the top 1% contribute an even lesser share of the total than 80%. Actually it's spread more evenly across the whole top half. Here's a breakdown from the US Treasury office. Who Pays The Most Individual Income Taxes? The individual income tax is highly progressive – a small group of higher-income taxpayers pay most of the individual income taxes each year. * In 2001, the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.3 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (32.0 percent) of income. * The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.9 percent of all individual income taxes in 2001. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group’s tax share has grown faster than their income share. * Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes. In all years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 90 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000 and 2001, this group paid over 96 percent of the total. * The President’s tax cuts have shifted a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers. In 2004, when most of the tax cut provisions are fully in effect (e.g., lower tax rates, the $1,000 child credit, marriage penalty relief), the projected tax share for lower-income taxpayers will fall, while the tax share for higher-income taxpayers will rise. * The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent. * The share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers will rise from 30.5 percent to 32.3 percent. * The average tax rate for the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers falls by 16 percent as compared to a 12 percent decline for taxpayers in the top 1 percent. Treasury fact sheet with convenient tables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beawulf Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I was shocked to hear on IRC recently that America doesnt provide its citizens with free health care, not even in emergencies. A member's father was in a serious car accident and required life saving surgery, he didnt have insurance so the hospital sued him for $30,000!!! So the options for the poor are to either not get treatment and die, or be in debt for a long time to come. Definately should raise the taxes in the US if it means healthcare for everyone. Fortunately we have free health care here in Australia, noone is turned away....or sued! Students also get an allowance from the government to study at university, currently I get $400 a fortnight which isnt a lot, but certainly more than enough to live on. In addition all my course costs are loaned to me interest free from the government, I wont have to start paying them back until I earn over about 35K per year. Having this sort of system doesnt limit access to tertiary education to only the rich, allowing people to develop beyond the limit of a class in society. A land of opportunity ;) I paid about 23% tax the year before last, there is also a 10% gst on everything we buy except food. I dont know about the tax on petrol or cigarettes, but fuel costs about $1.20 per litre today (which is the highest it has been in QLD, we get fuel subsidy so it is lower than other states usually). I am not paying tax at the moment as my income from the government is not taxable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyran Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 most of the tax paid is paid by the lower paid think about it most of us earn the average or less so for every rich guy earning a milliom a years there are a awful lot of poor guys earning pennies to get the avreage wage down to £250 a week what they want to do is abolish all the charity payments lke tax credits and allow the poor to keep more of what they earn that way more people will want to get off their asses and go to work which will mean i have to pay less taxes i paid almost £500 last year in income tax hey that makes me one of the poor paople :) yahhhh and if i had to pay less tax i wouldn't fiddle so much lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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