do the rich pay enough in taxes?

Question

The top 50% of wage earners pay 96% of income taxes.

So where does the line of reasoning come from that says the rich aren't taxed enough and the burden falls on the poor and middle class ect...?

I'm not trying to be a smart ***, I just want to hear the arguments from the other side and see if they hold water or not.

Answer 1

You like the numbers game so I'll tell you this 10% of the population control 80% of the wealth if we all had equal pecentages taken off our checks they 10% of the population would be paying 80% of the income tax. If we all payed the same percentage they still would be paying more and the goverment uses a fair amount of money to protect corparate intrests. The real question is how much money is enough we know what is not enough and companies love to push it so why is it a concern when you make good money to be worried about that chunk none of us want to part with are money especially to the goverment wich is extremely wasteful but when your at the bottom an extra twenty bucks is sweat at the top it's nothing

Answer 2

Lets take a look at that. The tax rate is about 15% on capital gains. The difference between taxes on wages tips and salaries is higher than capital gains. That is because you don't invest any of your own money to earn a profit. Suppose you earned a 20% profit from investing $100,000. That would be about $20,000. The $100,000 is your money and when you earned it or inherited it you paid taxes on it. If you earned in working it depends how much of it you earned in a year what percentage of tax you paid but that money already paid a tax. If it was inherited it was 55%. Anyway you put in $100,000 and earned 20% which is about $20,000. At 15% your tax is $3000. If you lost half of your investment what would your tax be? Nothing there is no capital loss tax. How much of a deduction can you take for a loss of $50,000. That would be $3000. That is the maximum loss an investor can claim. In earning wages, tips or salaries have you ever incurred a loss. Nope. You earned what you earned.

Answer 3

The top 50% had over 88% of the income so paying 96% of the income tax is not too much considering they pay a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the bottom half and no social security tax is paid on earnings over $100,000. However it is not the top 50% that people say are not taxed enough but people who earn over a million dollars a year, who on average pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than people earning much much less.

Answer 4

The short answer is they don't pay 96% of the taxes, but let's let that one slip by while we discuss the progressive income tax. If the 'rich' paid the top rate from first dollar with no deductions most of them would still be way richer than most people. But they don't pay the top rate from first dollar. Tax rates go up in five stages. 'The rich' pay the lowest rate on the first 15,000 like everyone else, then the rate increases on the next increment until the tax rate reaches the highest rate of 26%....but wait....there's more....'The rich' generally have a lot of deductions on the long form which lowers the 'bite' by a lot..a whole lot. But wait...there's more! 'The rich', once they cross the $90,000 rubicon stop paying FICA...a 7% savings and since most of the very rich make most of their moola on capital gains they pay a lower tax on that and if they have a war chest of municiple or state bonds there is no tax....free moola! No rich guy ever went belly up paying taxes and by the way, guess who has the most imput into the income tax system...the 'rich' or the folks that make a scant living? I got that from Warren Buffet and he's plenty rich!

Answer 5

I love (ie hate) it when people condemn tax cuts for the rich. Um....you can't really give the poor a tax break, cause they're not paying any taxes. A tax cut to the middle class does virtually nothing.

It comes from the mentality of "I want this crap and someone else should pay for it".

Answer 6

due to tax breaks,corporate loopholes and offshore accounts the top 1% of earners in america pay on average around 15%-20%,while someone who makes around $60,000 pays the full rate which is 30%-35%.the idea that dems take from the middle class and give to the poor is false.they take from the rich and give to the middle class in the form of healthcare and education.and as you can see from the stats above the rich arent being cheated when they pay more in taxes than the rest of america.its pure propaganda

Answer 7

Hell no, they don't!



I don't know where you found your figures, but you need to check again.

When Bush handed out tax cuts, the rich and corporations were the first to recieve them. How the hell is that right? How can we continue to let the rich become richer and the poor fall deeper into the hole???


My personal belief is that the rich should be taxed beyond belief. So should corporate America.

Answer 8

well for starters; your percentages are off base. you are generally taxed one third of your income for middle class and poor class a like. because the poor class makes less it seems a little un-fair.As for the rich class; they have more tax breaks and shelters than everyone else, and that to is unfair... the gov't needs to get off its lazy a-ss, and come out with a 35 to 45 % income tax cut to ease the burdens of its people. Now; the first group to complain about this idea will be the Banks, as they will see their 6 BILLION DOLLAR Profits drop down to 1 Billion.As so it should. What do you think is better; a guy who seems like he can never pay-off his morgage, or after given a decent tax break he pays off his morgage early.We all; understand the politians, are nothing more than pigs at the trough. Why do you think so many of us change the channel, or turn them off alltogether. LETS; face the truth 2.9 % and under tax cuts do not cut the mustard.We; are all tired of their BLAH BLAH BLAH empty promises....And it Does not matter what party holds office, their just a bunch of people changing what side of the room they sit on....

Answer 9

The rich pay too much in taxes. How can it be considered fair if we are not all paying the same percentage?

The biggest problem is the "Socialists" want to raise taxes so they can support the poor and make them more dependent on government, essentially buying their votes. There are more people who fall into the poor and middle class than there are rich.

Great question...

Answer 10

The problem is that the richest people are not wage earners. Most wage earners worked hard to be where they are, and should be encouraged with lower taxes. The super-rich, however don't earn wages - they live off of investments and inheritances, or are given control over wealthy foundations. These are the ones who should be taxed.