Really rich people are suddenly paying quite a bit more in taxes

Post by yongjik » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 5:38 AM UTC

SlowComputer wrote: post #11

gopi wrote: post #8

Most of the these articles never consider state/local level income taxes. For a person in California the total top capital gain tax rate is more than 33%. This is actually the second highest in the world. If you consider the regular income tax its even much worse, currently the combined income tax rate in California is more than 50%

I live in California. I'm not "super rich" but we earn more than $1MM/year. For every additional dollar I earn, I only get to keep 47 cents of it, just counting _income_ taxes. In reality, only high earners pay taxes. And high-salaried people are getting screwed under Obama's war against the most productive citizens.

Post by Mikeb85 » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 5:39 AM UTC

gnaritas wrote: post #96

Mikeb85 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends what your definition of 'fair' is. Conservatives think it's 'fair' that everyone pays the same rate. Progressives think it's 'fair' that everyone pays what they can afford. 'Fair' depends strongly upon one's beliefs, and can't be objectively defined.

> Conservatives think it's 'fair' that everyone pays the same rate. Which is a position completely ignorant of the marginal utility of money. No, it isn't fair that for one guy 10% could be the difference between getting by and not getting by while for the other guy 10% means no change to his lifestyle all. No, progressives think it's fair that the burden is felt equally and that requires understanding how money work…

Post by powertower » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 5:42 AM UTC

gnaritas wrote: post #109

powertower wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stop whining and blaming Obama; there's no war against productive citizens, you aren't a victim. You don't get to complain... Everyone gets to complain, you don't have a monopoly on it. > when you're among the wealthiest... Not everyone that is wealthy won the lotto. Some people actually worked for it (took risks, worked harder, etc).

Yes, and some people should be ashamed of complaining in the name of decency. > How about when you are the among the ones that took the most risk in life, the ones that worked the hardest Ah, the just world fallacy and survivor-ship bias all in one. You didn't work the hardest or take the most risks, far more people who worked harder and took equal risks didn't get lucky.

Post by bhickey » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 5:51 AM UTC

newman314 wrote: post #105

bhickey wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) It looks like I'm mixing up the California withholding rate with the tax rate. Thanks. 2A) Granted. If I had a magical tax wand, I'd obliterate corporate taxation. 2B) It's an argument I've heard, but I'm more interested in avoiding arbitrage. My preferences might be mistaken. :) 3) If I hold the belief that we shouldn't tax income differently based on its source, Mankiw's argument doesn't have much force. His rea…

Why remove corporate taxation? From my perspective, corporations already pay a lower effective tax rate and have access to tax avoidance strategies that not available to the individual. I've read the argument that eliminating the corporate tax would spur growth but that's like saying eliminating individual income tax would spur consumer spending.

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 5:56 AM UTC

wutbrodo wrote: post #118

harryh wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I buy an asset that only appreciates at the rate of inflation, then I end up paying taxes on what amounts to a fake gain. Even if it appreciates faster my effective tax rate is higher than the actual number used to calculate my taxes.

> If I buy an asset that only appreciates at the rate of inflation, then I end up paying taxes on what amounts to a fake gain. Even if it appreciates faster my effective tax rate is higher than the actual number used to calculate my taxes. The same is true of getting a raise and paying higher taxes on a "fake gain" (i.e., your effective tax rate slowly rises as each boundary shifts lower in real terms). That being sa…