| With all the talk of the rich are not paying | | | | population that is no longer contributing, |
| their fair share of taxes and the tax cuts | | | | even if it is a small amount. Any tax law |
| earlier this decade only went to the rich, | | | | changes do not affect them and therefore they |
| here are some facts to contemplate and you as | | | | don't care. |
| the reader can make up your own opinion. | | | | |
| | | | • The smaller the pot from where the |
| • The statement above could be true | | | | taxes come from, any changes in the economy |
| when you look at it from a pure dollar point | | | | or the behavior of people will have a much |
| of view. Someone who makes $500,000 versus | | | | bigger impact on the amount of money received |
| someone who makes $50,000, if they each get a | | | | by the treasury. |
| 5% tax cut, the first one pays $25,000 less | | | | |
| in taxes, where the second one only pays | | | | The problem is even worse than people not |
| $2,500 less in taxes. | | | | paying any taxes, you can actually get money |
| | | | back even if you don't owe any. There are |
| • I believe if you want to make an | | | | two that come to mind, the Child Tax Credit |
| argument who pays more in taxes, you should | | | | and the Earned Income Credit. I think the |
| look at a percentage of income paid and not | | | | second one is a good thing as it is an |
| the dollar figure. | | | | incentive to work, and the more you work, the |
| | | | more you get and it is capped at a low income |
| Let's look at some facts here from the latest | | | | and favors people with children. There is |
| statistics from the IRS that can be found on | | | | nothing wrong with the Child Tax Credit, but |
| their website: | | | | I don't see why someone actually needs to get |
| | | | a refund beyond their overpayment. |
| • The top 25 percent of income earners | | | | |
| pay 86% of all personal, federal income | | | | The tax laws are also screwed once you make |
| taxes. That is up from 84 percent in 2002. | | | | too much money in the government's point of |
| | | | view regarding credits and deductions. |
| • The top 50 percent of income earners | | | | Anyone making more than $100,000 is rich in |
| pay 97% of all personal, federal income | | | | the government point of view. I would |
| taxes, which also means that the lower half | | | | certainly disagree on that, ask a mom or dad |
| of all income earners in this country pay 3% | | | | with two or three kids making in the low |
| of all personal, federal income taxes. The | | | | $100s if they feel rich. Anyway, once you |
| medium in 2006 was just over $48,200. | | | | reach that level, many of the deductions like |
| | | | tuition are being phased out, the child |
| • What is amazing is that the top 1 | | | | credit disappears just to mention a few. You |
| percent of income earners pay 39% of all | | | | will not get a dollar for dollar deduction |
| personal, federal income taxes, which is up | | | | anymore for your mortgage, charity, state |
| almost 6 percent since 2002. | | | | taxes etc. I could go on and on. In some |
| | | | circumstances, because of the phase outs, the |
| 20 years ago, the top 1% paid a little over | | | | effective tax rate for a certain income range |
| 27 percent of all personal, federal income | | | | (like the income from $110K to $115K, which |
| taxes, and the top 50 percent paid about 94 | | | | is just an example as it depends on the |
| percent. | | | | situation), is in the confiscatory category |
| | | | where literately a huge chunk of extra earned |
| All the talk about the lower income bracket | | | | money goes to the government. This is offset |
| not getting enough of a tax cut has a | | | | somewhat by not having to pay social security |
| mathematical problem. How can you cut taxes | | | | taxes anymore, but that is story for a |
| for someone who already pays very little or | | | | different day. |
| nothing? That was actually answered during | | | | |
| the tax cuts in 2003 by cutting the lowest | | | | I think what we need is a flatter tax with |
| bracket from 15% to 10%. So the people who | | | | less deductions. All of us should pay |
| pay most of their taxes in the lower of two | | | | something, because once you have some money |
| lowest brackets received a 30% tax cut. This | | | | invested, you might actually have some |
| obviously is not a large dollar figure, but a | | | | interest how it is spend. We need to be |
| nice percentage cut. In addition tax credits | | | | generous to the ones in need and the |
| were increased. | | | | unfortunate, but that is not almost half the |
| | | | population that pays only 3 percent of the |
| Anyway, the issue we have at hand is that the | | | | taxes. We should be more generous with |
| taxes are paid by a smaller and smaller part | | | | families than with single people, |
| of the population. This results in several | | | | nevertheless they should all pay the same |
| problems: | | | | rate, just the dollar figure when you start |
| | | | taxing should be different. |
| • There is a large part of the | | | | |