Think you pay a lot in taxes? What if you learned that you probably pay a lot more than you think? According to an article on MSN Money, the state takes about a 40% cut from the average American’s income. The American revolutionaries rebelled over taxes a fraction of that amount.
When we hear most politicians talk about taxes, they usually only refer to the federal income tax. However, most people don’t think to include other taxes such as property taxes, sales taxes, or all the “little” taxes we all pay that add up to a very large portion of our income over time. [digg=http://www.digg.com/politics/What_s_your_real_tax_rate_How_about_40]
I don’t know how others feel, but I hope more than a few are little peeved that the government can claim almost half of our income that it did nothing to earn.
For something a bit more visual, here is a table from the article:
| All-in marginal tax rates for couples | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age |
$20,000 |
$30,000 |
$50,000 |
$75,000 |
$100,000 |
$150,000 |
$200,000 |
$300,000 |
$500,000 |
| 30 | 42.5% | 42.3% | 24.4% | 36.9% | 37.0% | 45.9% | 36.8% | 43.9% | 44.0% |
| 45 | 41.7% | 41.8% | 35.8% | 36.1% | 36.1% | 45.1% | 35.9% | 40.9% | 43.2% |
| 60 | 32.0% | 36.3% | 36.5% | 45.5% | 45.5% | 47.7% | 43.2% | 45.8% | 45.0% |
So how can we get our politicians more connected with the real world? Maybe it should be required that they do their own taxes every year.
Without a calculator or computer software.
Perhaps that might give them a vested interest in the tax code they write.
13zp0ruh0vi1foaa