[Vision2020] Who pays US income tax?

[Paul Rumelhart]

Doesn't that seem reasonable? There is some number, dependent upon where 
you live and how many dependents you have, that if you make more than 
than number you can afford the basics needed to survive comfortably. Not 
too comfortably, but you at least have money for food, clothing, a place 
to live, some means of transportation to get to and from your job, and 
(if you're lucky) some money to put aside for emergencies. Shifting more 
of the tax burden to these people is (in my opinion) not a valid option 
because you are asking people to give up on a necessity to pay more taxes.

The more you make, the more you should be able to afford in taxes, 
percentage-wise. That's because that minimum number referenced above 
becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of your income. The rest is 
left to the tax-payer for what are basically luxury goods or 
investments. The more you make, the less you are actually able to spend 
your money on reasonable things. No one wants a million DVDs, so you buy 
luxury yachts and gold-plated faucets. From a national perspective, some 
of that money could be better spent on infrastructure. So if you have to 
increase taxes, why not increase the amount most for those people who 
have the most non-essential income to take?

Paul

Jeff Harkins wrote:
> Data from the US Treasury Department might surprise some of you:
>
> http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/incometaxandtheirs/a/whopaysmost.htm
>
> Here are some highlights -
>
> # The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual 
> income taxes in 2002. 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 94 percent of all individual 
> income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid over 96 percent 
> of the total.
>
> Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush's tax cuts with 
> shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher 
> income taxpayers. In 2005, says the Treasury, 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.
>
>
>
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