Quote:
Originally Posted by zimmy
"The reality is that the income tax is one of a number of types of taxes that individuals pay, both over the course of their lifetimes and in a given year, and it makes little sense to treat it as though it were the only tax that matters. Some 82 percent of working households pay more in payroll taxes than in federal income taxes.[15] In fact, low- and moderate-income people pay a much larger share of their incomes in federal payroll taxes than high-income people do: taxpayers in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale paid an average of 8.8 percent of their incomes in payroll taxes in 2007, compared to 1.6 percent of income for those in the top 1 percent of the income distribution (see Figure 2).[16]"
Some might find this link interesting, especially those who are duped into the idea that no federal income taxes equates they don't pay taxes.
Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities |
It is generally understood by those who say half the folks don't pay any taxes refers to the federal income tax. Or, as you say, "do you think people are really that stupid" to believe the no taxes stuff? But the article seems to be duping us with the separation of federal income taxes from "payroll taxes." The income tax IS a payroll tax. Further, the largest federal payroll tax other than the income tax, social security tax, is actually an income tax since the money collected goes into the general fund and is spent in the same manner as the supposedly different income tax. The scam is that the tax is an investment for retirement and everybody who contributes, regardless of "income," pays the same rate for this investment. Except that after a specified amount at the higher income level no more money can be invested because the return would be too great for the fedgov to pay back and would seem "unfair." So, yeah, those who pay social security tax do pay federal income tax. And this entitles them to a "pension" paid from the general fund contributed to by all income tax payers, some who pay higher rates than others. And defining income tax as other than a payroll tax attributes to the notion that some pay a greater percentage of their income to payroll taxes than higher income folks.