Why a janitor ends up with a higher tax rate than a millionaire

[NNN0LHI]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/taxes-richest-americans-charts-graph

Why a janitor ends up with a higher tax rate than a millionaire, and seven more charts that show how the richest Americans beat the IRS.

—By Dave Gilson

Only the little people pay taxes

Mon Apr. 18, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes," billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley famously (and allegedly) sniffed. She wasn't entirely correct: The superrich do still pay taxes. The wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers pay 32 percent of all income tax collected by the federal government.

But the superrich don't pay as much as they used to—and thanks to a combination of tax cuts and preferential tax policies, their tax obligations can be less demanding than the so-called little people's. In fact, the very wealthiest Americans' tax burden has been steadily dropping for years, even as they've enjoyed astounding income growth not seen by the vast majority of Americans. snip

Tax rates for the wealthy have fallen substantially since they peaked in the 1940s. During the past 30 years, they have been cut at a much faster rate than middle- and low-income taxpayers'. snip

Payroll taxes (deductions for Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance) are mostly paid by the bottom 90 percent of earners. When they're factored in on top of income tax, the gap between the tax rates at the very top and everyone else shrinks even more—so much that the effective tax rate for people earning more than $370,000 is nearly the same as for those earning between $43,000 and $69,000 a year.

[dkf]

1. So cut payroll taxes.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. You never hesitate to look out for the very, very rich. nt

[dkf]

8. What do you think helps the disadvantaged more? More money in their pocket

Or taxing a rich guy?

How is a poor person supposed to get to the money the rich guy paid in taxes? Especially since that will have to go to pay down our debt?

[mistertrickster]

5. Or create a very small tax on stock trades . . . wait, NY already has one, it

just isn't being collected, heigh ho.

[hobbit709]

9. You never give up on that getting rid of SS do you.

[dkf]

11. If they can pay it out of the general funds now they can do the same later.

The political will to pay out SS is all that is needed.

[mistertrickster]

3. Also, a lot of income for the rich is generated by capital gains . . .

buying and selling stock or trading in real estate.

That is taxed at only 15 percent, lower than the lowest income tax rate.

[mistertrickster]

4. Deleted duplicate post . . . nt

[hfojvt]

6. wait

The janitor is making between $43,000 and $69,000 a year?

Where is this janitor, and are there any openings? I make $12,000 as a part-time janitor and would only make about $29,000 if I was full time.

[NNN0LHI]

7. I think the going rate for wages goes by region, cost of living and availability of workers, etc.

I was shocked to see that McDonalds workers in North Dakota were making $13 dollars an hour which would be $26,000 a year if they get 40 hours a week.

Don

[Broderick]

10. If you have a nice big corporation

Just move it off shore and ladle yourself in tax break galore.