@Cromwell_Dude:
….Supposing the statistics on what percentage of middle America pays in taxes is true (I don’t believe it to be true), it only proves Austrian Economics correct.
Oh, it’s true. Hmm, let me dig out my own 2009 income tax returns.
2009 total income - $55,849
2009 total FIT - $651
I had no special or big deductions. I did not even itemize. I have a wife and 2 kids. Effective FIT rate = 651 / 55,849 = 1.17%
Why would you say you “don’t believe it to be true” when you could gather facts and find what the truth actually is? :? Well, anyway - it’s true! I prepared about 120 income tax returns per year for the last 5 years. Middle America pays very little FIT. Lower incomers take more from the government on their income tax return alone, than they put in (not their fault - the government made the rules).
2009 State taxes (Iowa) - $2,156
Effective State rate = 2,156 / 55,849 = 3.86%
So in 2008 when the Federal government sent us a stimulus check for $1,800, they were sending us 3 years worth of taxes.
I’m not making a point - just providing information, which actually backs up some of you guys’ points. The fact is, middle (and certainly lower-income) America is paying next to nothing into the National Budget by way of income taxes. This is a fairly big change from 20-40 years ago. My thought is maybe politicians have figured out that giving tax breaks to the majority of voters gets you voted in and makes you more popular.
And just to prove the ignorance of many people - people clamor for an end to our income tax system and they think a national sales tax is a good idea. No thank you. I don’t want to trade my $651 a year in income taxes for a 15-20% added sales tax on everything I buy. The top 5% of income earners in America pay roughly half of the total individual income taxes per year. Pretty safe to assume where the national sales tax argument is coming from. I guess many of the bottom 80-90% of earners who want federal tax reform are too ignorant and/or uneducated to realize that they are cheering for major tax breaks for the rich and major tax hikes for everyone else! :-o :-)