For those who believe that the rich don't pay their fair share of federal income taxes...?

Question

As of tax year 2004, the data for income and federal income taxes are as follows (data for 2005-6 are likely to be substantially the same):

Group....% Income....% Taxes Pd
Top 1%------19-------------37
Top 5%------33-------------57
Top 10%----44-------------68
Top 25%----66-------------85
Top 50%----87-------------97
Bot 50%----13---------------3

If you think the rich don't pay their fair share, please take the time to answer the following questions:

1 - Specifically, how much more should "the rich" be paying than they already are?
2 - Specifically, how much less should "the middle class" be paying than they already are?
3 - Specifically, how much less should "the poor" be paying than they already are?
4 - In terms of the income groups listed above, what is "middle class"?
5 - In terms of the income groups listed above, who are "the rich"?

These questions are serious so vagueness (e.g., telling me how you feel) or ranting & raving will be reported as non-answers.

Answer 1

Here's another way to illustrate your point:

Suppose that every day 10 men go to dinner. The bill for all 10 comes to $100. If it was paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four men would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

The 10 men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until the owner threw them a curve.

"'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20. Now dinner for the 10 only costs $80.'

The first four are unaffected. They still eat for free. Can you figure out how to divvy up the $20 savings among the remaining six so that everyone gets his fair share? The men realize that $20 divided by 6 is $3.33, but if they subtract that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being paid to eat their meal.

"The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of $59.

Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"'I only got a dollar out of the $20,' declared the sixth man pointing to the tenth, 'and he got $7!'

"Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!'

"That's true,' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks.'

"Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. "we didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor.'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night he didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him.

But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short.

And that, boys and girls and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Answer 2

Because this is a democracy and the majority have less than half of the wealth(and that will alwaus be true) therfore they can vote to legally rob the rich.


Greed can do two things, it can either motivate one to succeed or it can motivate one to pull down and steal from those who have succeded. The poor who favor redistribution are greedy in a worse way than the rich.

If our society really rewarded those with wages depending on how much they contribute the wealth inequality would be even greater. But the redistribution of weath happens at the wage level for most people too. The good worker generally gets paid the same as the lazy or inefficent worker.

It is wrong but otherwise they would riot .

Answer 3

these numbers are off because that's not the % of taxes they pay and that's not the % of income they get.

that leaves out FICA and sales taxes, and it doesn't count investment income and capital gains.

poor and some middle class people pay more in FICA and other taxes then income tax. most rich people make most of the real income in investments and capital gains.

try again with real numbers and it shows the top under pay and get too much and that is ruining our economy for most people.

also note there's no source for the BS numbers above - which is typical for an inaccurate argument which is trying to look like a question but is really just telling us how he feels, with some ranting & raving & made up nonsense thrown in. looks like Rush Limbo or FAUX.

here are the REAL numbers: http://www.ctj.org/pdf/earnpr.pdf

Answer 4

specifically, the bottom 50 percent should be paying more because they SHOULD BE MAKING MORE THAN 13 PERCENT OF THE INCOME... that's ridiculous... a majority making 13 percent? God help the rich if anyone ever mobilizes them...

but, moving on, your chart only shows what is "taxable"... and I would be willing to bet the numbers would be very surprising if it showed total amounts, not just taxable income...

in other words... if you know a rich person, I mean really know them, then you know that their "taxable" and "actual" income are very different... and I would be willing to bet their actual income is close to the percentage they pay in taxes the majority of the time...

I was watching Bill Gates and Warren Buffet talk about taxes and Buffet said he only pays about 15 percent in taxes of his total income... and it's perfectly legal... that's what he said...

I pay more than that now... and I'm middle class?

this would seem to be the fundamental flaw in your argument... your rules for income are about as honest as a backstreet casino in vegas...

Answer 5

The wealthy benefit more from govt spending than the middle class and poor.

They should pay noy just more, but a higher percentage because they are so dependent on the govt.

Answer 6

Try reading the 861 tax code...it will tell you who is suppose to pay income tax..and I bet you a dollar to donuts...it's not the poor and middle class.

Answer 7

The one thing you fail to mention. Rich folks know how to invest their money so taxes are not taken out. Plus, they tend to have more deductions. There's a reason why the rich ARE rich....they know how to handle money

Answer 8

The rich get tax cuts, while everyone else doesn't. That doesn't seem fair.