" The rich are too highly taxed." Do you Agree or Disagree with this statement?

Question

BCA6010 · Accepted Answer

It's more complicated than that.

Income taxes alone generally have little to no effect on the wealthiest in the country, because most of what constitutes "income" isn't how they make or trade their assets. Instead, raising income tax levels mainly damages the lower-middle, middle, and upper-middle working class. This is also why you have so many celebrities and politicians who are multimillionaires and billionaires supporting higher taxes, because it won't hurt them, and it merely solidifies their elite status by making upwards income mobility harder.

When you start diving into the rest of the US tax system, you run into a maze of workarounds, loopholes, technicalities, and other things that accountants and lawyers masterfully take advantage of. Sometimes these are here because the people who write the laws are idiots who don't understand it, and more often it's intentional in order to help each other out.

So that being said... Am I in favor of spiking income taxes? Not at all. Am I in favor of closing existing loopholes and revoking tax exemption status from an abundance of scams operating as non-profit organizations and such? Absolutely.

Ad_Quid_Orator · Accepted Answer

It's not a matter of what I or anyone else "thinks", the data shows that when you tax the rich more, you get more job growth.

crazyish · Accepted Answer

I honestly don't believe it's a good idea to keep taxing the rich at a higher percentage. It turns people especially rich people bitter towards the less wealthy. I think rich people will be less inclined to help out in certain organizations, claiming "isn't that where our tax money already goes?" You see this in all tax brackets to be honest. I also believe that people with money will just come up with more creative ways to avoid certain taxes. That only makes it a smarter move for the government to tax the less wealthiest more to make up for it. So who ends up really having to pay for it? Or suffer? It's terrible and completely unfair, but in a world ran by the wealthy, one way or another it will come out in their favor. There are just too many factors when it comes to taxes that us on the poorer end don't even realize are important factors to even consider. It's going to take more than just taxing the rich at a higher percentage to really help matters.

Lyndsielee666 · Accepted Answer

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Pasiton5 · Answer

If someone is driven enough to go create and make himself a gazillion dollars ssi what why must be be penalized for it, by greedy p politicians too lazy to go out and do same that's not fair the opportunity exist for anyone to go and create as much wealth as they want but we have become a welfare country, I mean those few who worked are paying for illegals sneaking in here to rape this country of benefits that are denied by legal citizens, they have their housing subsidized, food, utilities, and so on and have the nerve to protest openly for their rights, illegals and I'm asking why do we have a border or immigration, and the politicians for some reason or hell they're wimps plain and simple bend over and take it up the ass catering to illegals afraid of being called racist, me call me what you want but unless you come get right legal way you might as well turn around and go home it's nothing here for you but a sling shot, ride home, instead the rich is being over taxes to pay for illegals to come commit crimes and run home to their country hell Mexico, is that fair more Americans homeless than illegals is that fair, wake up people this is real

AlexanderAnttila · Answer

I never understood how people can be so petty and entitled as to feel that they can demand, with bloodthirsty zeal, someone else's money simply because they have more of it than you. I've seen some scarily violent attitudes towards rich people as if them being wealthy justifies all manner of barbarism. So materialistic, and yet they are the immoral ones? Many rich people have worked hard all their lives to accrue their wealth, others have inherited it from forebears who worked hard for that very reason to be able to pass it down to their family, (something I'm sure anyone would do in the same shoes). Others have just been smart, invested well etc.

Last I also checked with regards to wealth in the United States: The 1% people always speak of is ever changing, because people gain and loose their wealth. It isn't a static club of elites, it is simply the dynamics of capitalism in action.

So what exactly gives you the right to unequally encumber another citizen with enormous tax rates just because you have less and they more?

Anonymous · Answer

This question is a bit loaded, cause taxed too much or too little to me is based on percentages. I know conservatives like to go off percentage based tax models, liberals like to say percentage based flat taxes are unfair.

Thus a rich person could pay billions in taxes and still only have 1% of their annual income paid in taxes, percentage wise that is too little, amount wise that is huge.

At the same time a rich person could pay billions in taxes and being paying 50% of their income in taxes, is that too much or too little?

I am middle class, far from six figures and I pay 53% of my gross income in taxes... there is more than just income taxes out there. That is what everyone focuses on, but when you add in sales taxes, property tax and all the other 100+ taxes out there... I'd find that most people end up paying at least half their income in taxes, at least in the middle class.

To top it off, my income tax rate is less than 10% so that tells you I have 40% in non federal income taxes that I pay annually and I don't even live in a high taxed state. I'd imagine people in those states pay 60% or more.

exitseven · Answer

The top 50% of earners paid 97% of all federal income taxes. They make a big deal about Amazon not paying any taxes. That may be true but corporations really don't pay taxes, they mostly pass it on to the consumer.
I managed a small company and yes we were taxed but we had lots of things we could write off like vehicles and machinery.
Yes rich people can afford accountants to make sure they pay the least amount of taxes but they are only following the laws set up by the federal government. The Trump tax cuts were mostly for the middle class. Personally I paid almost $4000 less in taxes. I dread to see what next year will bring.

The_Maphio · Answer

"The rich" are not the Silicon Valley motherfuckers or the Hollywood wastes of oxygen. Those ones evade MASSIVE amount of taxes, thus being even more useless than they normally are.

"The rich" are the people in the infamous 1%. Company owners who give jobs to millions of people in general, and those whose taxes allow the state to keep going the most.
Taxes are proportioned to the yearly income, thus somebody who makes millions are those who pay for most of the necessary amounts for all of us to enjoy public services.
Alas, these are base economics, and not "left propaganda 101", thus ignorant child-people will always blame the rich for their shortcomings.

DrunkAss · Answer

The rich are least ineffectively taxed as I see it. Hauser's Law:

" The rich are too highly taxed." Do you Agree or Disagree with this statement?

You try to tax the richest in the highest but most ineffective ways like they did in the 50s with progressive income tax and they don't pay more; they avoid more. They lobby more, they seek tax exemptions more, they get skillful accountants, and exploit every possible loophole. You don't get honesty that way. You get corruption.

MrOracle · Answer

Rich people pay a LOT in taxes - but they also manage their money wisely so that they can live even better without spending as much (and thus paying taxes as much).

For example, they will buy a vacation house, but they do that as a business, and they rent out the house most of the time at a profit. When they want to use it, they don't rent it out that week and get to stay in an upscale home for free.

They do the same with boats and even exotic cars.

Anyway, the real issue isn't tax collection - it's tax SPENDING. The government spends money like a Hollywood heiress on MTV's My Sweet 16 with daddy's Black Card. Congress will deliver 1800-page spending bills 12 hours before they are voted on. Trillions are borrowed against our future earnings to pay for it, which also grows the power and influence of politicians at every level.

Trying to fix the problem at the tax collection side is like arguing that alcoholics need cheaper beer.

Telekinetic-Potato · Answer

The way we tax in this country is so stupid. We tax the shit out of people who can't afford it, then we take the middle class and tax them to a point where financially they're in not such a different spot from everyone else and then the super rich, the tax to them isn't really even that bad.

If you make 200k where I live you're basically middle class, and that's mostly because you get taxed 40%

You would need to be making at least 1.5 million a year to be rich the way people are thinking in their head when they say "a rich person"

Only what about the people making billions? Not only would 40% probably not even be that high of a tax for those people compared to the middle class, but they don't even pay half of that.

I used to think differently but I'm starting to think this problem is getting to the point where our economy can't function properly due to the sheer amount of money a small group of people have that is not actively circulating

MCheetah · Answer

I mean... Not really. They are SUPPOSEDLY taxed really high, but then they have so many write-offs that they don't end up being taxed, at all. So, what they are taxed "on paper" doesn't count if they end up paying no taxes at all, in the end.

In all honestly, ALL OF US are taxed way too f*cking high. No working class man should lose more than 1/5th of his paycheck, sweat, and labor to a government that's just going to piss it all away on social justice programs in Pakistan. And the rich should not be able to get off tax free. I mean, for f*ck's sake, the only reason they get their asses kissed is because we're supposed to get more taxes from them. The rich shouldn't be taxed more than 1/3rd of their income, and I think that's fair considering they're multi millionaires. The whole system is completely f*cked, though.

ChrisMaster69 · Answer

The very rich are not highly taxed.

the normal guy that makes decent money, is the one that takes the hit.

he does not quite hit the high numbers to be creative with tax.

you are nearly always better off with a high paid job, you just have to accept you pay double on what you make over that limit.

it would be nice if there was a bit more granularity to the tax system

I just from 20% to 40% but the move over 45% is only another 5%
that higher rate comes in At £37.7k and is in place until £150k
i do not consider someone on £50k being rich but they pay same rate as someone at £140k

Basic rate
20%

Higher rate
40%

Additional rate
45%

taxes grr an annoyance but a necessity.

FakeName123 · Answer

I think everyone is too highly taxed. That includes the rich, yes. If you want to help the poor to be able to work their wayup, the best thing isn't too sabotage the rich and successful, but to increase the possibility and decrease potential burdens of people who want to work their way up.

But you never hear that suggested, right? It's all about taxing the rich, but none of these lunatics suggests "hey, why dont we instead reduce taxes for the poor". You know why? Because they don't care about you. All they care is getting even more money into their own hands.

Redred56 · Answer

Simple math, say the rich are considered ones with $100 tax them 50% leaves $50
I’m poor with my $25 tax me 50% leaves me $12.50
Tax the rich 90% From $100 leave $10
Even at 90% tax rate they almost have as much as me paying 50%
But there is a scary part to this, there are many times of taxation that NO and I mean NO politician is going to bring up. We have business/corporate/sales/personnel
Now if a Business tax were raised to a hamburger place~mmm we all like them right!
If one cost say 2.57 to make and it’s sold for 3.57=+1
What if tax goes up the cost is 3.00 to make and still sells for 3.57-.57?
that cost has to be paid for by, raising the price, cutting hrs., layoffs.
‘There are more cost involved but you get it.

lukeclej · Answer

I personally don’t care too much about how the rich may be taxed, but I won’t pretend like they don’t already pay most of the taxes.

https://www. bankrate. com
/finance/taxes/
tax-brackets. aspx/amp/

Remove the spaces.

Actually a little less than 50 percent of the US population barely pay any taxes. So no I don’t think they should be taxed more. If anything, the corporations need to be taxed more. They cheat the system by taking “personhood” when a company is not that. Just a little tidbit I’ve noticed most people don’t know but parrot talking points.

jasco · Answer

The thing about adding tax's to rich corparations and rich people is that they can simply move to another country that doesn't have nearly as high tax's which looses money for the country they just left. Which means it now falls to who ever is next in line and so on till it reach's the middle class. So honestly do I believe they are to highly taxed? I don't know I am not rich so i can't answer that but I will let ya know when i am

captain_voidwalker · Answer

Ohh silly child, of course only the rich get tax cuts because only the rich pay taxes. The lower income brackets get thier taxes back in the form of benefits. Now if you want the government to stop taking money out of your check the solution is easy. Just get rid of welfare, social security, and medicare

Adam1978 · Answer

It's really the companies you have to go after if you want more tax money. Rich people will just move their fortune elsewhere. Reduce all the way they can zero tax. If a company has black numbers they should pay taxes. Not just the people working there.

Lliam · Answer

I am strongly in favor of going back to Eisenhower era marginal tax rates on personal income. The top levels were over 90%. If people retained their income they paid taxes, but if they invested their money back into their businesses, they wrote that off. It helped to provide jobs and keep income disparity down.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

Maybe on paper the taxes are a little bit too high, but as the rich are the best at avoiding taxes there shouldn't be a discussion or complains about a tax cut.

Once they start paying their taxes in full, one can think about a tax cut, for them and a
the other citizen as well.

Gwenhwyfar · Answer

Disagree. More accurately they are heavily taxed but they also have dozens of legal tax avoidance devices (and some illegal tax evasion devices) that can reduce their taxes to almost nothing.

Celtero · Answer

I think I'd agree more with the statement than the average person...

The rich in the US pay the most taxes by far. The amount the average American pays is a pittance compared to what the rich pay.

The only reason we still bother to pay taxes is to justify being able to vote... because if we didn't pay taxes ourselves, it would truly be us leeching off the rich... which is sorta happening already.

TheSpaceGnome · Answer

Income taxes and property taxes should not exist at all.
Sales tax is enough to cover everything.
Sales tax on items should be flat percetages based on item costs (like they currently are).
Taxes should not be based on how much money you have, otherwise it's harder to become rich when starting out poor.

JustSomeGuy95 · Answer

Standards of living have been increasing decade after decade since the end of World War Two. The so called “99%” of “poor” Americans are some of the most well off people in human history. Just because a small percentage of people have more than you doesn’t mean you should seek to take it. Especially since they would be so rich if you didn’t buy all their innovations...

Smashingdoozy · Answer

They're not taxed enough. The fact that a person earning 500k a year and a person earning 5 million a year are taxed the same just doesn't sit right with me.

Unit1 · Answer

In Germany the rich are taxed even more. More than in the US if you make 100K annually. For unmarried people the take-home pay in California would be 6000 USD and in Germany it's 4700 EUR (5600 USD worth of money).

This sucks but it is what it is.

Anonymous · Answer

I don't know how many people actually know this, but the top 1% pay about 40% of all taxes. I think that it is fair as it is. The rich pay a slightly higher percentage of their income in taxes.

Don't believe those who says Jeffrey Bezos or Donald Trump pay little taxes. They don't understand tax laws.
https://taxfoundation.org/summary-of-the-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2020-update/

Feelicks · Answer

You can't really tax the super rich because they can change counties and citizenships like regular people change shirts.

You'd need a multinational agreement, and that's never going to happen because counties always want to attract more wealthy people than others.

Jersey2 · Answer

The bottom 50% of the US pays no federal income tax. They need to pay something! The rich pay far more than most, huge sums. Tax them more but use it wisely and not waste, then also tax the others who pay nothing.

RingOfFire · Answer

The top 1% of income earners pay more income tax than the bottom 90% of income earners combined.

If that's not a "fair share," then fair has no meaning.

Taxes are WAY too high on EVERYONE.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. SHRINK THE GOVERNMENT AND REDUCE ITS POWER!

Anonymous · Answer

They don’t pay their fair share. They use loopholes to get out of paying taxes. We should legally close the loop holes or at least make it mandatory to audit extremely wealthy people.

Can you vote on mine?

Do you think the younger generations (up to 22) are a lot nicer than the older? ↗

Kaneki05 · Answer

Strongly disagree. And the rich should always be taxxed more than the poor and letting the poor tax less due to that.

Surely · Answer

The tax laws are written by the rich.
Why would they do anything that would penalize them for having money?
How can a career politician get to be a millionaire on their meager salary without some insight?
Easier for them to take someone else's money.

EyesOfGod · Answer

Fuck the rich. Remember affluenza kid who killed 4 person in a drunk drinking incident? Piece of shit got 10 years probation. Broke probation and ran to Mexico with his mom spent 2 years in jail broke probation again last year now he better get fucking 40 years in prison. (On a side note that same judge who gave him 10 years probation also gave a poor kid 20 years prison for killing 1 person in a dui.)

Shamalien · Answer

The 'rich' are too highly taxed. The elites who run this world however know how to avoid taxes. You can never tax those people, when you raise taxes on 'the rich' it's the middle class who gets fucked, and there go your jobs.

Marxist goofs need to study history of economics

CreamySeed · Answer

The only way to get people out of poverty is to not scare away capital investors with high taxes. The greater the amount of employers in a given area the higher the wages and standards of living. Taxing private wealth is a waste because the govt sucks ass at efficiently allocating it for the maximum productivity. I suggest actually you look at the tax brackets you will see the rich pay a disproportionate amount of taxes compared to lower earners.

anylolone · Answer

There's never tax cuts or gains from corporations. They always basically just pay sale taxes and corporate taxes, anything else and they will find a loop hole because who ever promises you free shit will write that in there, frequently you'll demand it without realizing.

But tax cuts for the middle class and poor, like trump did, tend to help with tax revenue and attract jobs, they did exactly that.

WhiteSteve · Answer

I think when you use the American economic system and the American people themselves as a vehicle to make yourself wealthy, then you should be obligated to put a lot back into America.

karaspara · Answer

Disagree the poor are taxed more than they can afford

BuckU · Answer

This is the dumbest, most leading question i've seen on this site yet. The result was obvious before you even posted it. You just wanted to be noticed.

DaveToo · Answer

When a CEO of a corporation as big as Walmart is making 1635 times the salary of the best-paid employee and pays zero taxes, it's long past time to tax them on their income, not on their write-off donations.

es20490446e · Answer

Random people having an opinion on matters they don't understand. The Internet today.

AmeerX · Answer

Being a student of economics. I think taxes should be flat taxes or linear tax rates. progressive taxes discourage people from getting rich as there is weight loss and the increment income increase might be less beneficial

Account · Answer

Strongly disagree. Is that from The Political Compass test?

menina · Answer

I strongly disagree. When it comes to taxes the rich are always benefited. The poor make the rich richer.

Hawner · Answer

The rich are barely taxed, considering the amounts of money they have and hot much they obtain each year.

LazyProphet · Answer

What's funny is, everyone bitched about Trump lowering taxes for the rich, when 1. Taxes were lowered for everyone, not just the rich, and 2. He took away all the loopholes and write offs that the rich used so it really ends up being a wash for them.

crmoore · Answer

I have conflicting feelings, but my main concern is less on "is taxing them so much moral/immoral" and more on "is taxing them so much going to incentivize them to move over seas, causing us to lose jobs and tax money."

jshm2 · Answer

Tax cuts, bailouts, and costs plus contracts are only for the rich and connected - it's how capitalism works.

DizzyDesii · Answer

I dont know the amount that they’re each specifically taxed so i can't say

Bellatris · Answer

Hell no! Make them pay until they bleed!

kingofthellamas · Answer

Speaking from the UK, an argument we often hear against taxing the rich is that if you tax them too much they would run away to the USA. So from an American perspective, you should tax them properly.

Twalli · Answer

At a certain income amount people spend all increases they get, and not to offset debts. Those should get tax cuts because they will stimulate the economy the most. The rich just save or invest an increase ik their money

Uptowngirl88 · Answer

Disagree, the rich are hardly taxed. They recieve a lot of tax breaks

ShortCircuit · Answer

I think any higher than 0% for any socioeconomic class is too high, so yes.

Madhatter920 · Answer

If you're still rich, then you're not too highly taxed.

Anonymous · Answer

They aren't too highly taxed but they can play the system to reduce their tax bill significantly Hey it's legal and I support them because in the same position I would be doing the same goddamn thing

Tomtom9090 · Answer

Wealthy are the reason we have what we have through social services. Its the corporations and those who make wealth through interest who need to pay their dues

Ryfyle · Answer

Like what the fuck does it matter? I don't get the Tax money and all that Tax money gets funneled to some other rich guy. So Why the fuck should we raise Taxes if it just ends up enriching the rich?

geola · Answer

Yes and No, if you're rich but you have a business that employes thousands of people then no, but if your rich and spending money on frivolity then yes. But it all depends

Anonymous · Answer

They are being taxed lower than what I would have done if I was president or governor. They should pay at around double   And poor shouldn't pay anything at all. Amazon pays 0 I heard

hellacray · Answer

Sure let's do it. Then let's see what starts happening to prices and people's jobs.

" The rich are too highly taxed." Do you Agree or Disagree with this statement?

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