NOTHING ABOUT THIS WAS UNREALIZED CAPITAL GAINS CUPCAKE, THIS WAS 100% INCOME. YOU ARE THINKING OF THE ONE WHERE USING THAT PUT THE BILLIONAIRES AT 4% EFFECTIVE RATES
- Methodology: The analysis by Saez and Zucman includes all federal, state, and local taxes, providing a comprehensive, though debated, view of the total tax burden.
Zucman countered that his and Saez’s analysis considers the EITC and other credits like it as transfers of income, akin to food stamps or jobless benefits, rather than tax provisions.
“If you start counting some transfers as negative taxes, it is not clear where to stop,” he said via email. “Do you treat the EITC as a negative tax? veterans’ benefits? medicaid? defense spending? … There’s no clear line and the results become arbitrary.”
There is general agreement among economists, however, that the tax burden of the rich has fallen considerably in recent decades.
“The rich definitely pay less in taxes than they did in the past and less than they should,” Furman said.