Why does Warren Buffet, the #1 ranked man on Forbes Richest
list pay 17% in taxes on his income whereas his receptionist pays
about 30% of her income.
Good question?
The answer? Wages are taxed differently than investments.
If you are earning $10-20K/month in income from
stocks,rental income and other investments,
which is being taxed at 15%, you may not
be that pressed that your $2,500/month salary
being taxed at 30%.
But, if you are earning $9.72/hour at Macy's and
being taxed at 30% that is a whole other ball game.
The article goes on to address the discrepancy saying,
One might wonder how Mr. Buffett gets away with a tax rate of only 17.7 percent, while a typical millionaire is paying so much more. Most likely, part of the answer is that Mr. Buffett’s income is made up largely of dividends and capital gains, which are taxed at only 15 percent. By contrast, many other top earners pay the maximum ordinary income tax rate of 35 percent on their salaries, bonuses and business income.There was a piece in the New York Times on how 1% of the
population earned 30% of the adjusted gross income.
(The AGI is used in the calculation of an individual's incometax liability income and
includes wages, interest income,dividend income, income from certain retirement accounts,
capital gains, alimony received, rental income, royalty income, farm income, unemployment
compensation, and certain other kinds of income).
The top 1 percent of New York City tax filers now receive more than a third of the city’s adjusted gross income, according to an analysis released today that looked in part at tax returns. That means for every dollar earned by the top fifth, only 11.5 cents is earned by the bottom fifth. This is the biggest gap in all the states, and like those in the rest of the country, it has been growing for the last 20 years. (Though the disparity is growing fastest in Connecticut, as an article noted today.) The top 1 percent of New York City tax filers, 32,000 tax returns representing 82,000 New York City residents, received 37 percent of the city’s adjusted gross income — which includes wages, business income and capital gains, among other earnings. They earned 20 percent of wages, 59 percent of dividends and interest, 70 percent of business income and 86 percent of capital gains.When you have extreme concentrated wealth and extreme
concentrated poverty within 20 miles of each other, this is
bound to happen without strategically implemented
policies on wages, housing and education. What surprised
me was that the comment section indicated a lack of
understanding of Capitalism?
- 29.
So why don’t poor people just move somewhere else?
— Posted by Ben
- 14.
It would be enlighting if the 1% with 37 % of AGI
what percentage of the tax revenue they paid?
I bet not more than 10% — Posted by joez
What this chart doesn't indicate is that different types of income are taxed at different rates. Why do we call them taxes anyways?What if we called taxes dues instead? Would they better reflect
what they were? Would they be easier to pay?
Yes, this is a little sneaky. Some conservatives may even call it Orwellian, and they ought to know. But the word “dues” also plays into the psychology of group identity, and that can work to the benefit of conservatives and liberals alike. Consider that “tax” comes from the Latin for “appraise” with punitive overtones of “censure” or “fault,” as if wage-earners have done something wrong by their labors. “Dues,” in contrast, is rooted in social obligation and duty.I like it. Without taxes we have no cities, I like cities so I accept taxes.
So this will be an uphill struggle. But we need language to remind us that this is our government, and that we thrive because of the schools and transit systems and 10,000 other services that exist only because we have joined together. Instead of denouncing taxes, politicians would do better to appeal to the patriotic corners of our hearts that warm to phrases like “we the people.” “Taxation” is a throwback to the time when kings picked our pockets. “Paying my dues,” a phrase popularized in the jazz music world, is language by which we can stand together as Americans.
Speaking of taxes and wage earners I found this great comment on
the subprime bailout from an article on the need for the regulation
of global financial markets.
- 5.
The Wall Street titans want free market profits and
socialized losses. Huge compensation has been paid in
recent years on “profits” from phony mark-to-market prices
of derivatives. These idiots need to be reigned in before they
destroy everything. — Posted by T.F.
n*ggas need to fall off just to save me the trouble yo.
~Doom, Doomsday
nail---><---head.
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You pay taxes this year?
You already spent that rebate, hunh?
And it ain't even mailed yet. LAME.
Why don't people understand the wage/investment
tax distinction?
Guess its my/our job to teach, hunh?
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2008
5:11 pm
I think it has less to do with income inequality than a substantial number of extremely wealthy individuals that for whatever reason decide to make new york their home.
— Posted by David