XPost: misc.taxes, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.politics.republicans   
   From: nospam@ix.netcom.com   
      
   If you’ve just filed your income taxes, it might interest you that the   
   U.S. tax code is incredibly progressive. That’s meant in a mathematical   
   sense, not a pejorative one. It’s progressive because it collects far more   
   taxes from you when you make more income. As a household’s income   
   approaches a modest amount, the tax burden can zero out entirely or even   
   turn negative.   
      
   This isn’t the message we usually hear from today’s left. They claim “the   
   rich” should pay “their fair share.” We also hear this in recent times   
   from liberal wolves in sheep’s clothing on the “New Right,” people like   
   Oren Cass. What we’ve never heard liberals do is define in numerical terms   
   how much is “fair.” Still, we do know their definition of “rich” tends to   
   include more everyday Americans than they let on.   
      
   How progressive is our tax code? According to the nonpartisan   
   Congressional Budget Office, the average federal tax rate (all federal   
   taxes of all kinds divided by income) for the top 0.01 percent of   
   households — the 12,000 wealthiest families in America — was more than 30   
   percent. These households give the federal government 30 cents of every   
   dollar they earn.   
      
   Given the rhetoric, that might be surprising. Let’s keep going down the   
   income ladder. The highest “quintile” (one-fifth) of earners, those making   
   $350,000 annually, paid 22 percent of their income in federal taxes. The   
   middle quintile, those making $80,000 yearly, paid 13 percent of their   
   income. And the lowest quintile, those making $20,000, paid 1 percent of   
   their income in federal taxes.   
      
   Remember, this isn’t just the federal income tax — it’s also the Social   
   Security and Medicare payroll tax, the corporate income tax, the   
   inheritance tax, and all federal excise taxes. So, it’s a comprehensive   
   look at the country’s federal tax burden. And it shows a very steep and   
   very progressive tax system. If you’re working a minimum wage job, you   
   hardly pay anything. If you’re in the middle class, you’re paying a   
   respectable but modest amount. And if you’re a millionaire, you’re paying   
   out your ears more than twice what the middle class pays as a percentage   
   of income.   
      
   Congress is scheduled to vote on making President Trump’s “Tax Cuts and   
   Jobs Act” law, which is about to expire, permanent. This will ensure that   
   taxes don’t increase in January 2026 on middle-class families and small   
   businesses. Unless Congress acts, income tax rates will rise across the   
   board. The child tax credit will be cut from $2,000 to $1,000 per child.   
   The standard deduction and inheritance tax exemptions will be cut in half.   
   The dreaded “alternative minimum tax” will return. The tax rate paid by   
   most family-owned small businesses will rise 25 percent on top of the   
   income tax rate hikes.   
      
   In a misguided attempt at frugality, Congress is considering “paying for”   
   this avoidance of a tax hike with higher taxes, which is itself a fairly   
   insane thing to do that only makes sense to some in Washington. The form   
   of this tax hike is particularly painful given what Trump’s tariff   
   experiment is putting Main Street employers through. Congress is   
   considering removing the ability of businesses large and small to deduct   
   their state and local income taxes paid on their profits. Doing so would   
   increase businesses’ average federal tax rate from anywhere between 2 and   
   5 percentage points, depending on the business and their state tax rates.   
      
   Why on Earth, on the front end of what most economists now say is an   
   unavoidable recession, would Congress consider raising taxes on anyone,   
   let alone the businesses that must pay the gargantuan tariffs imposed by   
   Trump? In fact, Congress should be talking about how it is cutting taxes   
   for businesses to help them counteract the higher costs they are paying   
   when they import goods from abroad. Congress should look to lower tax   
   rates, not raise taxes by denying deductions for ordinary and necessary   
   business expenses like state business taxes.   
      
   Our tax system is already plenty progressive and needs Congress to focus   
   on growth, not liberal talking points about greedy rich business owners.   
      
   https://dcjournal.com/the-rich-pay-the-most-in-taxes/   
      
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