Aren't taxes just too high?

[bobman0330]

Defining income is hard, but I don't think you can just write it off as an impossible task. Just takes some effort.

My understanding of the standard deduction was that it was just there to save people the time (and cost) of itemizing.

In any case, my main point was that people in the top bracket should have fewer deductions. Not because they're all "rich" by whatever definition, but because the utility of the behavior encouraged by a lot of deductions is less for the wealthy. (obviously, some deductions, like the charitable giving one, are MORE effective for high-income taxpayers. keep those.) For example, the mortgage interest payment deduction for people making 200,000/year. Do we really feel the need to subsidize home ownership for these people? Healthcare costs? Maybe it's a good thing that we'd like to do, but the cost is the same as or higher than the same tax subsidy to a poorer person who needs it more. At some level of wealth, the cost is going to outweight the benefit.

[Meech]

Yes, they are way too high. Add up all the little fees and taxes I'd be surprised if it doesn't exceed 50%.

We've dumped tea in the harbor for less.

[HtotheNootch]

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I'll come right out and say that fiscally I am a republican

[/ QUOTE ]Are you sure about that?





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Any time the government spends a dollar we are being taxed. Now ask yourself if taxes were really cut, or did we just get interest added to our tax bill?

[TomCollins]

Not always true... local governments own utility companies that charge based on usage. They spend money to maintain equipment, build new water papers, etc... None of this is tax. Also, even the Post Office and Amtrak, only a portion of what they spend is coming from taxes or a debt (although any is too much imho).

[andyfox]

We've been over this ground quite a bit before, so just this:

Highest marginal tax rate in 2005 is 35%, not 38%. And you have to make $326,450 to pay that. And you pay it on only that portion of your income that exceeds $326,450.

So, for example, if you make $350,000, 35% would be $122,500. But you don't pay $122,500. If you're married and filing jointly, you pay $102,240, which works out to 29.2%.

That still might be too high (or too low) depending on your politics, but this just points out that when you're in the 35% bracket, that doesn't mean you pay 35% federal income tax on all your income.

[phage]

What government functions/services are people willing to have cut back (or eliminated) in order for taxes to be lowered?

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What government functions/services are people willing to have cut back (or eliminated) in order for taxes to be lowered?

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That is probably the better question.

EDIT: This is in response to Grey's graph post.

1) He said he is fiscally Republican. He never mentioned that he subscribed to Bush's fiscal policies.

2) As a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), within the context of the national economy as a whole, the highest deficit was run during fiscal year 1943 at over 30% of GDP, whereas deficits during the 1980s reached 5-6% of GDP and the present projected deficit for 2005 is 2.9% of GDP, close to the post-World War II average. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deficit

3) Avoiding the deficit would have been nearly impossible for Bush. The economy retracted immediately when he entered office which made tax revenue drop.

[bluesbassman]

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What government functions/services are people willing to have cut back (or eliminated) in order for taxes to be lowered?

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All of them, except for:

1) Police
2) Small reserve military
3) Judiciary

Then we can talk about privatizing the preceding three as well.

[phage]

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What government functions/services are people willing to have cut back (or eliminated) in order for taxes to be lowered?

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All of them, except for:

1) Police
2) Small reserve military
3) Judiciary

Then we can talk about privatizing the preceding three as well.

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Do you think that this is realistic for a country this size?