1/3 of Americans now pay no income tax
I am interested in hearing any and all comments on this.
Personally, I think if we made each citizen pay a symbolic minimum tax of say US$ 50, it would not only bring in trillions of dollars in revenue, it would also be fairer. But then again, I may be a real scrooge to think our progressive tax system might be getting too progressive if 32% of tax filers pay ZERO federal income tax. (42.5 million X US$ 50 = 2 trillion dollars and change.)
Of course, they could all be evil Republican millionaires who benefited from Bush's tax cuts. Or wealthy Democrat scions who have their huge fortunes invested in tax-exempt municipal bonds.
But somehow I doubt those categories add up to 32% of America's taxable populace, though admittedly, I wasn't there for the internet boom.
From the original report, you can see various break-downs. (44% are single without children, which went against my guess that these would all be single mothers.) So, even if we implement this symbolic tax only on the single without kids category we could still reap 900 billion dollars in revenue, though I'm sure Miller Brewing and the local weed dealer would be out some sales.
For the record, I do pay federal income taxes, and I have worked at Taco Bell for US$ 3.35 an hour. I did get to wash the plastic bell on the roof a couple times, though. Job satisfaction baby!
Personally, I think if we made each citizen pay a symbolic minimum tax of say US$ 50, it would not only bring in trillions of dollars in revenue, it would also be fairer. But then again, I may be a real scrooge to think our progressive tax system might be getting too progressive if 32% of tax filers pay ZERO federal income tax. (42.5 million X US$ 50 = 2 trillion dollars and change.)
Of course, they could all be evil Republican millionaires who benefited from Bush's tax cuts. Or wealthy Democrat scions who have their huge fortunes invested in tax-exempt municipal bonds.
But somehow I doubt those categories add up to 32% of America's taxable populace, though admittedly, I wasn't there for the internet boom.
From the original report, you can see various break-downs. (44% are single without children, which went against my guess that these would all be single mothers.) So, even if we implement this symbolic tax only on the single without kids category we could still reap 900 billion dollars in revenue, though I'm sure Miller Brewing and the local weed dealer would be out some sales.
For the record, I do pay federal income taxes, and I have worked at Taco Bell for US$ 3.35 an hour. I did get to wash the plastic bell on the roof a couple times, though. Job satisfaction baby!
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