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.
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

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.
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.
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.