Next time you meet a wealthy person, thank them...

[Ripsnort]

An interesting article.  The top 1% of wage earners pay 35% of your U.S. taxes. I think that is quite a heroic effort, financially speaking.  I plan to start thanking rich people for their contributions to our society.

Originally Posted by WSJ
Maybe our liberal friends are onto something. They keep saying the rich should pay more taxes, and it turns out the rich already are! That's one of the valuable lessons from the IRS's annual study of income tax data, just released for 2004.

Americans who earned more than $1 million in adjusted gross income paid $178 billion, or an average of $740,000 per filer, in income taxes in 2004. That's up about one-third from 2002, the year before the Bush tax cuts in marginal income-tax and dividend and capital gains rates. The wealthiest 1% of tax filers paid a remarkable 35% of all individual income-tax payments that year.

Yes, we know: Some will claim that this merely shows that the Bush tax cuts made the rich richer. In fact, the Statistics of Income data reveal that there were more Americans filing taxes in every income category from $50,000 and up in 2004. In other words, Americans across income categories were (and are) making more money thanks to the buoyant economy spurred in part by the tax cut.

Here's a way to think of the distribution of current income-tax payments: Imagine a banquet attended by 100 random Americans. If the bill for the meal is distributed like the income tax, the richest person in the room is required to pay one-third of the tab -- or more than all 50 attendees with a below-average income. The three richest people are charged as much as the other 97. And the 30 or so lowest-income people in the room -- those with a family income of $30,000 or less -- pay nothing and eat for free.

This is by any definition a "progressive" tax system. Make that highly progressive. It's true that lower-income workers are also dunned with payroll taxes, but that still doesn't do much to alter the fact that the current tax code really does soak the rich.

The 2004 tax and income statistics also show that reported taxable income rose from 2002 to 2004 despite the cuts in tax rates. Reported taxable income from those in the highest tax bracket rose by 39%; dividend income was up 42%, and income reported from capital gains nearly doubled (up 98%). As for capital gains tax collections, they were roughly 50% higher in 2004 than before the tax cut. Another chestnut of good news is that small business net income surged 24.4% in 2004 from a year earlier. The financial health of these small and often entrepreneurial companies no doubt helps explain the strong job market.

Meanwhile, a separate report that tracks monthly tax collections shows that revenues keep flowing into the Treasury. In the first two months of Fiscal 2007, through November, tax receipts climbed by 9% despite the slowdown in GDP growth. This is on top of the increase in federal tax receipts of nearly 15% in 2005, and another almost 12% in fiscal 2006, which took the federal budget deficit down to 1.8% of GDP -- lower than the average for the last 25 years.

It's true that if the economy hits the skids in 2007, this revenue tidal wave will break. But that's all the more reason to ignore the pleas from our liberal friends to raise taxes. If House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi wants to keep revenues flowing to pay for her priorities, the best thing she can do is leave the lower Bush tax rates alone to soak the rich some more.

[Silat]

Since they control 75% of the capital I think Ill with hold thanking them.

[straffo]

And they pay the on amount not already in the Cayman island

[Ripsnort]

Just for the record....
Taxation can not be avoided by simply transferring assets abroad.

The United States is unlike almost all other countries in that its citizens are subject to U.S. tax on their worldwide income even if they reside permanently outside the USA. U.S. citizens therefore cannot avoid U.S. taxes by emigrating. According to Forbes magazine some nationals choose to give up their United States citizenship rather than be subject to the U.S. tax system

[straffo]

I guess they can't pay any lawyer to avoid paying less taxes ?


Our rich are rich enough to do so.

[Yeager]

screw em.  Get that 1% to pay the full 100% of the nations taxes.  They've earned it.  Greedy bastards.

[storch]

I'm not a 1%er, far from it but maybe some of us are happy to pay our fair share recognizing that we live in the best country on earth and we are the most blessed of all of humanity since adam and his wife got us kicked out of paradise.

[cpxxx]

Living as I do in the country with the lowest direct taxes in Europe. I have no problem with tax cuts. People with more money in their pockets will spend it. This can increase the tax take through indirect taxation. People are still taxed. They just don't feel it.

I am glad to see the rich are paying their way. But they hardly feel it. If the top 1% are paying 35% of the taxes then that must be because the top .5% are earning mind boggling amounts of money. The Gate's, Hilton's, Trumps etc. The best tax cuts are those which lower taxes for the lower and middle income workers.  The rich don't need any help from the government.

[SteveBailey]

The best tax cuts are those which lower taxes for the lower...

In the US, the lower income people already pay no income tax. What would you do, pay them money?

[cpxxx]

Originally posted by SteveBailey
In the US, the lower income people already pay no income tax. What would you do, pay them money?

Clearly and obviously I mean those on lower incomes who currently do pay taxes. People who earn so little that they don't pay tax, just need to look for a better job!

[john9001]

the next time a rich man hands me a 6 figure check and says thanks for working so hard all your life to make me rich i will thank him.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by john9001
the next time a rich man hands me a 6 figure check and says thanks for working so hard all your life to make me rich i will thank him.

Considering the rate of inflation, and your age, 6 figure incomes are not far off...

[storch]

I think they may already be here for many of the higher paid tradesmen.  welders are approaching the $35 per hour rate in certain disciplines many work an average of 60hrs per week.  $127,400.00 annually without considering the value of the benefits package.  I believe all in all it's a good thing.  God bless America and her working folk be they warren buffet or nelson cabrera, they all work diligently and they are all necessary to our great societal system.

[SteveBailey]

Originally posted by cpxxx
Clearly and obviously I mean those on lower incomes who currently do pay taxes. People who earn so little that they don't pay tax, just need to look for a better job!

Sorry, but it's not clear and obvious, here's why:  Believe it or not there is a school of thought that would answer "Yes" to my question. When I try to explain that such redistribution of wealth is frank socialism, they proceed to me I'm an idiot, or greedy... etc.

[john9001]

Originally posted by cpxxx
: People who earn so little that they don't pay tax, just need to look for a better job!

and who will serve you when you go to a restaurant?