The top 1% on the wealth scale are getting reamed!!!!!

[beaburt]

There were roughly 129 million tax returns filed in 2001.
The IRS collected $888 billion in personal income tax in 2001.
The top-earning 1% of taxpayers (1.29 million) earned 17.5% of the income.
The top-earning 1% of taxpayers (1.29 million) accounted for $300.9 billion in income tax paid
The top-earning 1% of taxpayers (1.29 million) paid over one third (33.9%) of the $888 billion total individual income tax collected that year. Do the math ($300.9 billion / $888 billion).
The top-earning 1% of taxpayers (1.29 million) paid almost double their share of taxes (1.9 times) in relation to income. Do the math (33.9% of taxes / 17.5% of income).
The top-earning 1% of taxpayers (income over $292,913 in 2001) now carry 37% more of the tax burden than they did 10 years ago, when their share of the tax burden was only 24.8%. Do the math (33.9% / 24.8%).

[TerryAnne]

Mostly because there are 1) more in that top 1% than there was 10 years ago, and 2) that top 1% is bringing in more than it was 10 years ago. You make more, you get taxed more...plain and simple.

[jaybear_us]

As I've said before in other posts, statistics can say whatever you want them to say. It's very simple, you make most of the money, you pay most of the taxes. It's not rocket science.

[MrSinatra]

funny, in the other thread, you were lamenting the advantages the rich enjoy.

[RebelSnake]

Some of these people can't seem to make up their minds. Which is it now? Either the rich don't pay any taxes, or they pay most of the taxes. You can't have it both ways.

[Cap'n Billy]

funny, in the other thread, you were lamenting the advantages the rich enjoy.

Reminds me of one J. Kerry ("I was for ____ before I was against it.")
I notice that people who bash the rich most always cite corporate CEOs and the like, who usually get rich producing products. They seldom mention entertainment, news, sports figures and the like, whose products, while somewhat useful in some instances, seldom cause any real enhancements to people's lives. I suspect that if a national referendum was conducted on whether to confiscate all of Bill Gates' wealth except a billion dollars it would pass with a landslide vote. The following year there would be a depression, since no business operator or stockholder would feel safe, and many would liquidate their holdings

[WeaponOfMassInstruction]

I think that those statistics, while valid and true, are also unintentionally misleading.

They do not take into account individuals who are living off huge inheritances and trust funds (Kennedys, anyone?). Remember that such interest dividends are NOT counted as income....at least so far as I know.

Neal Boortz made the observation once that Bill Gates could retire tomorrow, thus ending his earned income stream, and still most likely be in the top 1% in terms of money coming in over the course of a year because of his investments.

Boortz also pointed out that there are some states who do not consider such assets as countable when you apply for welfare. So, if your income from wages earned is zero, you'd qualify...even if you were a Kennedy.

[MrSinatra]

i don't know of anywhere in america where income earned off of investments does not count as taxable personal income, AS LONG AS you actually withdraw it...

...meaning that if you have some huge investment or trust, it is possible to avoid personal income tax if the earnings are immediately reinvested by the entitiy handling the funds.

however, as soon as you pull whatever amount out to use it, say to buy cars, houses, or food, its taxable income you must report.

as far as i know anyway.

we should not "hate on" the rich, trust fund babies, etc... b/c even if they are totally reprehensible unproductive members of society, it is BETTER for america that their capital works as the investment engine for the country, which creates jobs and growth, rather than taken by the gov't and squandered via some insane gov't spending or pork, and not contributing in any way to economic growth.

thats why bill maher is SO wrong about the "death tax" ie. estate tax.

[Ed S]

funny, in the other thread, you were lamenting the advantages the rich enjoy.

I am glad I am not the only one who picked up on that. I think b burt gets a bit confused in his writings, he has so many opinions they clash.

[beaburt]

EdS it is not confusion....it is simply a conundrum. On the one hand you don't want people less well off to suffer do to non-existent social safety nets, however at what point via over taxation of the affluent are we succumbing to socialist tendencies or the antithesis of a free market. If someone can answer that question I shall be greatly appreciative!

Is the current wealth divide which is greater than the lates 19th century "Gilded Age" a natural effect of the "Free Market" although overtly regulated....this is another question I am pondering....is this society truly a Free Market or is it simply an oligarchy at the peak of a Socialist elite???

The Insurance industry claims that there exist 58,000 Americans who have a net worth of $30 million dollars+ not including real estate holdings, there are over 400 billionaires in the USA.....my curiosity is at what wealth level does one become enabled by tax shelters, foundations etc so that the merely affluent people worth $1 million end up taking a disproportionate tax burden ???

[Ed S]

B-Boy you are losing it. You can't have it both ways. We do not live in a perfect world. You are really starting to remind me of Anthony Von Belle.

[beaburt]

Hi Ed,

So essentially the US is in fact a socialist country, we pay 50% taxes to fed, state and local, social security etc etc etc. I would just like us to admit that we are not a democracy or a representative republic, we are a socialist republic!!! Frankly Ed i don't even understand why we have borders I mean its not as though we are a sovereign country, in socialism EdS as in communism there is always an elite class of property and wealth holders, no different than what we have in the US! Thanks to NAFTA and CAFTA our domestic labor base has been decimated. As for me EdS I am learning Spanish....its called the natural law, every empire comes to an end, I didn't believe I would see it in my lifetime....however Rome fell so shall the USA.

[Ed S]

B-boy I have a suggestion for you. Get them to let you out of the Asylum for a while and run for office. You will be happy in congress, there are a lot of nuts there.

[TerryAnne]

I don't know about anyone else here, but I certainly don't pay 50% of my income to taxes...maybe around 15-20%, but I get about 10% of that back....sometime.

[Ed S]

It is too early in the morning for this.