Five tax lies from the 1% the RW presents as fact- "well known"

[francoHFW]

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1. The Rich Pay Almost All the Taxes

That's simply not true. The percentage of total taxes paid by the very rich (the top 1%) is approximately the same as the percentage paid by middle class Americans (the 4th quintile, average income $68,700). Here are the details:

Internal Revenue Service figures show that the very rich paid 23% of their incomes in federal income taxes in 2006. The middle class paid about 8% of their incomes in federal income taxes. Based on U.S. Congressional Budget Office figures, the very rich pay just under 2% of their incomes toward social security, while the middle class pays just under 10%. According to a study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the very rich pay about 7% of their incomes in state and sales and property and excise taxes, while the middle class pays approximately 10%. Another year of Bush tax cuts will reduce the taxes of the very rich by at least 3% more than the middle class.

So total taxes for the very rich are 29% of their incomes (23% + 2% + 7% - 3%). Total taxes for the middle class are 28% of their incomes (8% + 10% + 10%). These figures agree with CTJ's 2011 estimate of total taxes paid.

2. Tax Rates Are Too High

In 2009, the United States ranked 26th out of 28 OECD countries in total federal, state, and local taxes as a percent of GDP. Only Chile and Mexico had lower tax rates.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows." For taxpayers in the top 1%, the tax burden has fallen dramatically in recent years.

At very high income levels, beginning at about the million dollar range, federal income tax actually becomes regressive. Effective tax rates level off at about 25%, and then go down from there. This is because all incomes over $388,000 are subject to the same 35% maximum. The $4 billion hedge fund manager pays no more, percentagewise, than the $400,000 doctor. In fact, even less. At the highest levels most of the income comes from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%.

How about corporations? Even worse. They paid only 12.1% in 2011, dramatically lower than the 25% average since 1987. According to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures, they're paying about a THIRD of the inflation-adjusted share of GDP paid by corporations in the 1960s.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/30

More later- it really is ridiculous...

 

[francoHFW]

2. Tax Rates Are Too High

In 2009, the United States ranked 26th out of 28 OECD countries in total federal, state, and local taxes as a percent of GDP. Only Chile and Mexico had lower tax rates.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows." For taxpayers in the top 1%, the tax burden has fallen dramatically in recent years.

At very high income levels, beginning at about the million dollar range, federal income tax actually becomes regressive. Effective tax rates level off at about 25%, and then go down from there. This is because all incomes over $388,000 are subject to the same 35% maximum. The $4 billion hedge fund manager pays no more, percentagewise, than the $400,000 doctor. In fact, even less. At the highest levels most of the income comes from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%.

How about corporations? Even worse. They paid only 12.1% in 2011, dramatically lower than the 25% average since 1987. According to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures, they're paying about a THIRD of the inflation-adjusted share of GDP paid by corporations in the 1960s.

Compared to foreign countries, U.S. corporations paid a smaller rate of income taxes than 24 of 25 OECD countries analyzed by the Office of Management and Budget and the Census Bureau.

Most stunning is the shift in taxpaying responsibility from corporations to workers over the years. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.

3. Tax Cuts Boost the Economy

In the 1970s, University of Chicago economist Arthur Laffer convinced Dick Cheney and other Republican officials that lowering taxes on the rich would generate more revenue. The delusion has persisted to this day.

Soon after the Reagan tax cuts, in 1984, the U.S. Treasury Department came to the logical conclusion that tax cuts cause a loss of revenue. A 2006 Treasury Department study found that extending the Bush tax cuts would have no beneficial effect on the U.S. economy.

Other sources confirm that economic growth was fastest in years with relatively high top marginal tax rates.

The reality is that supply-side, trickle-down economics simply hasn't worked. Various economic studies have concluded that the revenue-maximizing top income tax rate is anywhere from 50% to 75%.

4. Eliminating Tax Breaks for the Rich Wouldn't Significantly Reduce the Deficit

First of all, just eliminating the Bush tax cuts on the highest-earning 5% of Americans could knock $150 billion off the deficit. Congressional Budget Office data shows that the tax cuts have been the single largest contributor to the return of substantial budget deficits in recent years.

But there's so much more. The IRS estimates that 17 percent of taxes owed were not paid, leaving an underpayment of $450 billion.

Most of the annual $1.3 trillion in "tax expenditures" (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, and loopholes) goes to the top quintile of taxpayers. One estimate is $250 billion a year just to the richest 1%.

Another $100 billion could be retrieved by collecting taxes from Fortune 500 companies at the 26% rate paid from 1987 to 2008. CTJ puts the figure at over $200 billion.

Worse yet is the loss from tax havens, which the Tax Justice Network estimates as $337 billion.

Despite some overlap in these figures, it all adds up to a pretty good chunk of the deficit.

5. A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) Would Hurt the Economy

This fallacy would have us believe that a tiny tax on financial transactions is going to hurt the economy, even though the underlying reason for our economic collapse was the excessive, reckless, unrestrained, free-for-all trading of trillions of dollars of speculative derivatives.

The inventiveness of this fallacy is impressive, with claims of lost jobs, harm to ordinary investors, and the threat of exchanges moving overseas. The Wall Street Journal calls the FTT a "sin tax."

An FTT isn't likely to interrupt the global trading frenzy or cause any sudden defections from financial megacenters. The United Kingdom has had a tax on stock trades for decades, and the London Stock Exchange is humming along as the third largest exchange in the world. The CME Group, made up of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, had a profit margin higher than any of the top 100 companies in the nation from 2008 to 2010.

On the contrary, the FTT has extraordinary revenue-generating potential, on a global scale. The Bank for International Settlements reported in 2008 that annual trading in derivatives had surpassed $1.14 quadrillion (a thousand trillion dollars!). For the U.S. alone, revenue estimates by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Chicago Political Economy Group approach a half-trillion dollars annually.

And at the more basic level of simple fairness, it should be noted that while an American mother pays nearly a 10% sales tax on shoes for her kids, millionaire investors pay .002 percent (2-thousandths of a percent) for a financial instrument. That kind of tax disparity is what really hurts.

Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press). He can be reached at [email protected].

 

[francoHFW]

Add in gas taxes, etc, car registration, all gov't fees etc, and the poor even pay as much as or more than the rich, and definity more than corps. see sig pp1- Pubs are a lying, thieving disaster for the country. Change the channel, dupes- hoping for your recovery.

 

[Charles_Main]

Gosh I just love when a Far Left loon posts a Bunch of Crap Back up only by what Other Far left loons say.

So much fun.

lol

 

[francoHFW]

Yup, the CBO, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), U.S. Treasury Department, etc, are left wing loons- What a dumbazz dupe. But Rush/Beck rants are established fact. Because the rest of the BS Pub Propaganda network backs them up! LOL! Change the channel, idiot.

 

[WillowTree]

Yup, the CBO, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), U.S. Treasury Department, etc, are left wing loons- What a dumbazz dupe. But Rush/Beck rants are established fact. Because the rest of the BS Pub Propaganda network backs them up! LOL! Change the channel, idiot.

fuck ewe







IRS loophole costing taxpayers billions | Video | Fox News

 

[Charles_Main]

Yup, the CBO, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), U.S. Treasury Department, etc, are left wing loons- What a dumbazz dupe. But Rush/Beck rants are established fact. Because the rest of the BS Pub Propaganda network backs them up! LOL! Change the channel, idiot.

Red Neck? LOL why you are nothing but a Bigot Deciding you know all about me, Based on your own Stereo Types.


Grow up, Try not getting all your facts through the Filter of the Left wing Blogosphere, Yes they site credible sources, But they do a great job of Miss Representing the Facts on those sites, and a great Deal of Speculation as well.

But feel free to continue to only Listen to those people you agree with in your Life, It's sure to keep your Blood Pressure down, Might not ever learn much, But your Stress level will be low.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

In more than 20 years, there have been no jobs created by Reagan's sacking of the middle class. How much longer do the pubs think we're stupid enough to wait?

Pubs are a lying, thieving disaster for the country. Change the channel, dupes- hoping for your recovery.

Not surprising that the rw's have only name calling to offer in rebuttal.

Not one fact. Nope. Not even one.

Come to think of it, the same thing happens when I ask them to name even ONE pub accomplishment. They can't because none exist.

 

[francoHFW]

You said red neck, not me LOL.

No, this isn't the PPN you're used to. What misrepresentation? NONE.

I listen to Rush and Fox everyday- they lie and spin and hate endlessly- total BS.. You try PBS, NYT, and Randy, Ed sometime. They deal in facts, according to everyone BUT the PPN. Ain't it strange every BS rant of Rush, Beck, Hannity immediately are follwed by 8 pages of crappe RW websites in 20 minutes? While the truth stands alone. You are duped.

 

[Listening]

You said red neck, not me LOL.

No, this isn't the PPN you're used to. What misrepresentation? NONE.

I listen to Rush and Fox everyday- they lie and spin and hate endlessly- total BS.. You try PBS, NYT, and Randy, Ed sometime. They deal in facts, according to everyone BUT the PPN. Ain't it strange every BS rant of Rush, Beck, Hannity immediately are follwed by 8 pages of crappe RW websites in 20 minutes? While the truth stands alone. You are duped.

Randy ???

Ed ????

ROTFLMAO

 

[francoHFW]

Idiot laughing hyena- can't handle facts? Ugly 'Merican dumbazz.

You probably don't get them in Bug Tussle, W. VA. LOL!

 

[francoHFW]

So when are Pubs NOT lying, chumps? Their "facts" are ALL BULLSHYTTE...

4. Eliminating Tax Breaks for the Rich Wouldn't Significantly Reduce the Deficit

First of all, just eliminating the Bush tax cuts on the highest-earning 5% of Americans could knock $150 billion off the deficit. Congressional Budget Office data shows that the tax cuts have been the single largest contributor to the return of substantial budget deficits in recent years.

But there's so much more. The IRS estimates that 17 percent of taxes owed were not paid, leaving an underpayment of $450 billion.

Most of the annual $1.3 trillion in "tax expenditures" (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, and loopholes) goes to the top quintile of taxpayers. One estimate is $250 billion a year just to the richest 1%.

Another $100 billion could be retrieved by collecting taxes from Fortune 500 companies at the 26% rate paid from 1987 to 2008. CTJ puts the figure at over $200 billion.

Worse yet is the loss from tax havens, which the Tax Justice Network estimates as $337 billion.

Despite some overlap in these figures, it all adds up to a pretty good chunk of the deficit.

 

[USMCSergeant]

What is 150 billion when you're deficit is 15.5 trillion. A drop in the bucket.

No matter how you try to look at it, progressive taxes are unfair. Now the super rich getting tax cuts is a touchy subject. Do you think they invest more? Create any jobs? I feel they do, and to give them tax breaks makes investing in an unstable market more palatable.

Other than the super rich, where those tax breaks apply, the wealthy pay a very high tax rate, unless all of their money is capital gains. Would you like there to be a high capital gains tax? Honest answer, I'm not hating on your opinions here.

As far as this quote is concerned. "Add in gas taxes, etc, car registration, all gov't fees etc, and the poor even pay as much as or more than the rich."

Do you not think the wealthy pay those exact same taxes? Of course they do. They most likely pay much more into these taxes due to owning more vehicles, which implies they pay more gas taxes, and more in registration fees. They also pay property taxes on their homes and land. They also pay sales taxes, if their home state has a state sales tax. Being wealthy usually means you buy more items. So there is NO WAY the poor pay more taxes than the rich on these other tax systems.

There should be a flat tax percentage. 10% max. Regardless of your income 10% goes to taxes. We would bring in more tax revenue this way, and no one would feel attacked by a certain party. Why hate the rich? Why all the class envy? They've done nothing but work hard, succeed, or receive inheritance from parents that have done so. No American should legislate their money away only to redistribute it to those who make less. That is theivery at it's definition. That is not "The land of Opportunity."

 

[francoHFW]

The mega rich have tripled their wealth under voodoo- while the rest and the country go to hell. Taxes on the whole are way too low- 12% corporate EFFECTIVE tax. You believe a lot of Pub BS. We need DEMAND- the rich, banks, and corporations are SITTING on record amounts. Ideological idiocy.

 

[USMCSergeant]

You didn't address anything in my reply. I honestly want to know why you feel the way you do, without any bashing.

Also at what point do you feel taxes would be too high? 30%?

 

[francoHFW]

Like Obama, I would only raise taxes on the rich and make the corporate effective rate 20-25% ASAP- and raise the min wage to 10.50, the equivalent of 1968's, by 2014.
I think i'd like capital gains to be the the same as income rates, person by person. And a lot of making taxes SIMPLER.

 

[USMCSergeant]

In your own words please, why should the rich be taxed more than anyone else?

You would raise the business tax up to 25% and raise minimum wage to 10.50... How would anyone in America start a business? It's extremely hard as it is without those elements.

Low taxes on capital gains encourages investments. Less risk, more reward. I do not understand how raising this to anything over 10% would be beneficial to our country.

We finally agree when it comes to making taxes more simple.

 

[Ariux]

Add in gas taxes, etc, car registration, all gov't fees etc, and the poor even pay as much as or more than the rich, and definity more than corps. see sig pp1- Pubs are a lying, thieving disaster for the country. Change the channel, dupes- hoping for your recovery.

You're right. Other government fees and taxes tax the poor at a higher rate than the rich. The rich also have significant unreported income... a lot of the stuff their companies provide them like "business trips" to Hawaii, a company car, a cell phone, etc.

 

[USMCSergeant]

That's completely untrue. Gas tax is the same regardless of income, as are registration fees, as is sales tax.

 

[francoHFW]

bUT GAS TAX IS A PERCENTAGE OF A POOR PERSON'S BUDGET, ABSOLUTELY NEGIGIBLE (oops) for the rich. Same with fees.