"Tax the Rich"

[Anonymous]

The money you earn by working gets taxed the most. After that, there are a lot of ways to minimize.

[Anonymous]

boo hoo

[Anonymous]

A 45% tax rate is not high and honestly is should be much higher. People should not be allowed to make more than 300k per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly think the tax code should be significantly less progressive than it is. The vast majority of people in this country pay almost no federal taxes at all. They have no skin in the game! They literally could not care less if the pentagon wastes trillions or we fund stupid unnecessary projects.

I've love to see a flat tax on ALL americans and on ALL incomce (including capital gains and dividends)

Some countries have done that and it works well. The problem here is:
1. The CPAs and tax software companies would all complain because they are no longer needed.
2. Congress likes to legislate behavior through the tax code. That's why we see tax breaks for getting married, having kids, donating to charity, saving money for college (529), etc. I doubt they'll want to give that up.

Many years ago, Russia lowered the income tax rate and made it simpler. Tax revenues went UP. The reason is that so many people were dodging taxes when the rates were high, but they figured at a more reasonable rate, they might as well pay up and not have to always be looking over their shoulder.

Yes Russia is an example of a fair society we should follow 😳😳😳

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. We live in Rockville so we pay taxes for Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, as well as the federal government.

I think the thing is the billionaires need to be taxed. And not have all those loop poles. It would not make one difference in their lifestyle to increase their taxes and it would make such a difference to America's budget.

You also pay MD state income taxes, don't forget those. Those are particularly annoying because there are few tax-efficient strategies at the state level.

As for billionaires, a lot of their money is in wealth not income, and our tax system is based on income.

They also happen to be highly mobile, so they will move to better tax jurisdictions. Higher taxesin MD and MoCo have caused the wealthy to leave and decimate the tax base:
https://montgomeryperspective.com/2025/04/11/marylands-wealth-drain-part-six/

Buh-bye! Don't let the door hit you in the way out.

That attitude is exactly why many of the wealthy left.. and the result is putting more of the tax burden on everyone else.

It's why everyone in MD now pays about double what they used to in car registration fees, and emissions testing fees, and why people in MoCo have to pay for parking garages on Saturdays, for example. It's also why everyone in MD now pays a 3% "digital services tax" on their Netflix subscription, for example.

DP. What exactly is your evidence that “rich people leaving” is the reason for this? You offer no basis whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do well. I am not complaining and feel very fortunate to have two very good paying careers. But we just did our end of year tax analysis with our CPA and our effective tax rate when adding federal plus DC taxes is 45% (36% federal, 9% DC and DC is only "low" because a lot of our income is through a DC C-Corp which is taxes slightly lower at 8.5%).

45% of our income going to taxes. Nearly half of what we take home. And yes -- we are utilizing every single tax strategy under the sun available to us and work with a very good CPA.

So let's change the complaint from "tax the rich" to "tax the billionaires" because the regular rich are playing PLENTY in taxes already. Sigh.

Sorry, we are 38 trillion in debt, the top 1% are not going to magically pay lower taxes as that crisis deepens. More likely everyone except oligarchs will be taxed heavily plus there will be enormous inflation.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t the ‘rich’ they are talking about. Not even close. You are the people who should he saying ‘tax the rich.’

Look up carried interest, what it is and the tax rate that is applied. And then how much big fund managers make. That’s the ‘tax the rich’ our politicians are talking about and the types of income.

[Anonymous]

You make so much money that whatever you take home, can start growing now tax free for generations. If you don't know how, consult a professional.
I probably make 10% of your take home. I don't pay taxes really.
Low income earners mostly work without a contracts and lose a lot of money to wage theft. My employers probably made what you made and complained about taxes while failing to pay me.
"Tax the rich" is more when you have 100s of millions in investments and borrowing against equities. Perhaps those loans should be high interest and high tax to the bank.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, my boyfriend makes around $5M and I was shocked to understand taxes for the higher brackets

[Anonymous]

There is a graduated income tax rate, so you may pay 45% on some of your income but not all of it. And, as a former DC resident, I think the city’s taxes are low because state, county, and city taxes are all rolled into one instead of being separated out.

[Anonymous]

You know what is crazy to me? In Australia, the marginal tax rate is 45% over $190,000. But that covers all health care (unless you want extras, in which case you can buy a health insurance policy). When my son was born, the government paid me $3000 and the birth itself was free. When he got sick as an infant, I brought him to the hospital and they didn't even ask me for ID and there was no payment at all. In fact, they sent me home with formula so I could supplement.

The other nice thing about Australia is that their IRS calculates how much tax they think you owe or should get back. You only need to file if you disagree with their assessment.

Australia is the best and I would move there, if it weren't for my husbands family

[Anonymous]

How do you end up at 36? It is either 35 or 37, I thought.

Plus, it is marginal.

So are you saying you are in a kuch higher tax bracket but ending up paying the marginal rate of 36%?

That is not bad at all. As PP noted, you have more than enough income to grow your wealth if you choose.

[Anonymous]

Sorry--meant to say after adjusting for the margin, you pay 36% of your income? Which isn't really possible since the highest bracket is 37% marginal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what is crazy to me? In Australia, the marginal tax rate is 45% over $190,000. But that covers all health care (unless you want extras, in which case you can buy a health insurance policy). When my son was born, the government paid me $3000 and the birth itself was free. When he got sick as an infant, I brought him to the hospital and they didn't even ask me for ID and there was no payment at all. In fact, they sent me home with formula so I could supplement.

The other nice thing about Australia is that their IRS calculates how much tax they think you owe or should get back. You only need to file if you disagree with their assessment.

Australia is the best and I would move there, if it weren't for my husbands family

Yes convict Island

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do well. I am not complaining and feel very fortunate to have two very good paying careers. But we just did our end of year tax analysis with our CPA and our effective tax rate when adding federal plus DC taxes is 45% (36% federal, 9% DC and DC is only "low" because a lot of our income is through a DC C-Corp which is taxes slightly lower at 8.5%).

45% of our income going to taxes. Nearly half of what we take home. And yes -- we are utilizing every single tax strategy under the sun available to us and work with a very good CPA.

So let's change the complaint from "tax the rich" to "tax the billionaires" because the regular rich are playing PLENTY in taxes already. Sigh.

You need to diversify your income, open a business