Are taxes too low?

[Kahns Krazy]

I finished the first pass at my income taxes this year. I took a pretty significant hit on the two rental properties I had last year, but still, my total tax rate (simply, my federal tax liability/ gross income) is less than 10%.

It just doesn't seem like that's enough.

Just for kicks, I did a single guy, making 100k with no itemized deductions tax return. The tax liability is $19,000. 19% effective tax rate. That's the most that an individual 100k earner will pay. It's pretty difficult to earn $100k without being in the itemized deduction group.

Certain studies show that somewhere between 5-7% of the population is at the $100k+ range, meaning 93% of the population is paying less.

A single, standard deduction person with no dependents making $60k pays less than 15% in federal taxes.

It sure doesn't seem like we're going to pay back what we've spent at that rate.

[QueensbridgeMF]

Yes but people are selfish and don't want to pay taxes and no one has tha balls to raise taxes.

[MHettel]

Taxes get paid every single time money changes hands in the US.

You buy something, you pay tax.
You then sell that something, the buyer pays tax.
You make money on that sale, you pay tax.

I'm pretty sure you are paying plenty.

[MHettel]

Alternatively, you could pose the question like this:

"is government to expensive?"

[boozehound]

I vote yes as well.

It's not a popular opinion but I think it is valid. I read somewhere that we currently have one of the lowest inflation adjusted effective tax rates in American history. I can't link a source because I don't remember exactly where I heard it, so I can't vouch for the accuracy.

I am all for cutting spending, particularly wasteful spending, by the government but it doesn't replace the need for the increased tax revenue as well in order to get the country back into the black financially. There are a lot of families paying virtually no federal tax while also receiving substantial government benefits. That is another issue (entitlement programs) but the all-encompassing situation (in my opinion) is that we basically cannot realistically cut spending enough to balance the budget and pay off our National Debt without increasing the amount of tax revenue we take in.

It's great to not want to pay anything in taxes but to want a military to protect you, roads to drive on, Police, Firemen, etc. but at some point you have to pay for the things you have.

[Mark 3 Pointer]

MHettel is right... Tax isn't just what comes out of your bi-weekly paycheck as Federal Income Tax Witholding.

There's to name a few:

Fed. Income Tax
State Income Tax
Local Income Tax
Sales Tax (6.5 of all purchases in Hamilton County I believe)
Social Security Tax
Medicare Tax

Here's a web page that breaks it down a little better.

http://nowandfutures.com/taxes.html

So to answer the question do we pay enough taxes... HELL YES WE DO!!!

[American X]

Your questions is misleading from the start, since you fail to mention:

- Social Security Tax
- Medicare Tax
- State Income Tax
- Sales Tax
- Excise Tax (sinner)
- Property Tax
- Capital Gains Tax
- Asshole Tax
- Estate Tax

We do not have a tax rate problem. We have a spending problem.

Krazy Kommunist.

[Kahns Krazy]

Taxes get paid every single time money changes hands in the US.

You buy something, you pay tax.
You then sell that something, the buyer pays tax.
You make money on that sale, you pay tax.

I'm pretty sure you are paying plenty.

This is very rarely true. Most often, tax is only collected once on an item. Cars can be a notable exception, but I'm having a hard time coming up with another item that fits your description.

[xudash]

Your questions is misleading from the start, since you fail to mention:

- Social Security Tax
- Medicare Tax
- State Income Tax
- Sales Tax
- Excise Tax (sinner)
- Property Tax
- Capital Gains Tax
- Asshole Tax
- Estate Tax

We do not have a tax rate problem. We have a spending problem.

Krazy Kommunist.

+1

[Kahns Krazy]

Your questions is misleading from the start, since you fail to mention:

- Social Security Tax
- Medicare Tax
- State Income Tax
- Sales Tax
- Excise Tax (sinner)
- Property Tax
- Capital Gains Tax
- Asshole Tax
- Estate Tax

We do not have a tax rate problem. We have a spending problem.
Krazy Kommunist.

Fair enough. The title should be "Are federal income taxes too low". It was also being asked from the perpective of our current defecit situation.

We also for sure have a spending problem. I still think we have both. I think we like to lie to ourselves about how much we actually pay in taxes. We complain about things like 33% tax brackets, when the reality is basically nobody is paying anything close to 33% in federal income taxes. I can tell you that before yesterday, I would have told you I pay more than 10% in federal income taxes.