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wwarnout t1_j9kd6xt wrote

This is hardly surprising, given that tax rates on wealthy people have been going down since the 50s. See https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/EX62u9bXsAUtRO8.mp4

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77Gumption77 t1_j9ljm9h wrote

Wealthy people pay almost all income taxes. The bottom 60% pay zero effective income tax or less. The 1% paid almost 40% of all income taxes in 2020.

Furthermore, given that prices for many products have sharply decreased since the 1960s, the purchasing power of everyone in the US has risen substantially. The only exceptions to this phenomenon are the areas with the most government involvement: education and healthcare.

I suggest you read this: Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet, by Marian L. Tupy.

Tupy is a South African who lives in Europe. He provides a pretty objective analysis.

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jubilant-barter t1_j9lqodj wrote

Wait. Are you flat out lying.

https://itep.org/who-pays-taxes-in-america-in-2020/

This says that total combined taxes (both income and capital gains) reaches 24% for the 1% in 2020.

The lowest 60% supplied about 16%. But like, we expect that. The middle class has always borne the majority of the tax burden.

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No-Sleep2378 t1_j9lx9dx wrote

He said income tax. This paper includes other taxes in an attempt to make it look more equal. You aren't reading correctly

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jubilant-barter t1_j9lysks wrote

But if you only talk about income tax, your conclusion is a lie.

Why would you exclude such a massive part of inequality and revenue as capital gains and other revenue.

Especially since "income" is like the shittiest way to get into the 1%.

And good lord, even if it wasn't. The threshold for the bottom 50% of the nation is 42k and sales tax is a thing too. What exactly are you trying to tell us, that we should bring the hammer down just to make sure the plebes suffer more.

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No-Sleep2378 t1_j9m1gkr wrote

Wasn't even my conclusion. So will just reiterate you should really learn to read more carefully. But great rant

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jubilant-barter t1_j9m2eod wrote

Oh, no I know.

But when you have conversation about taxes, one of the ways people try to convince everyone that rich people shouldn't have to pay taxes, is an aggressive cherry-picking of the data. It's on purpose, and it's deceptive.

For example, they'll pick 2020, which was peak covid relief, and a massive outlier. They'll focus on income, because it reinforces their point.

Like, covid relief is over, the Trump tax cuts just expired (hiking taxes on lower income Americans), and inflation is going gangbusters on cost of living.

So liiiiiiiike... we can't ignore this stuff.

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g0bler t1_j9nig42 wrote

This article intentionally leaves out transfer payments. It is actually correct that the wealthy pay almost all of the taxes, even when you factor in payroll tax and sales tax which are regressive, when you also factor in transfer and in-kind payments (services provided for free are no different than a negative tax).

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jubilant-barter t1_j9sqwoc wrote

Are you telling me that you're pulling library and park expenses and counting them against the tax obligation of poor people?

I think you may need to explain what you mean.

And then "transfer" is what? Social security, Medicare, Medicaid?

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walter_2000_ t1_j9nitu2 wrote

Sorry to jump in here early in the thread, but I currently pay 35% income tax. It's not normal. Someone asked to borrow 10k and I told them it would cost me 6k to do that. So I'd have to pull 16, 000 dollars out of an account to get 10,000 dollars. In the next few years we'll be able to lessen that, but basically I pay a lot. And I should. Lots of people with more money than me, and there are lots, pay 20% in taxes. Lots of people pay zero. If you have like 5 or 15 million, you're going to have to do some work before you stop paying exorbitant taxes. Above that, you're going to pay very little. Fuck you.

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