Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 18:38     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.


There's not even a 15% tax bracket in the US. 10% from $0-11,925 (single fileer), 12% $11,926 – $48,475
22%: $48,476 – $103,350. Where's this 15% you come up with?

Standard deduction is $15,750 for single filer.


You don't seem to understand the tax system. Hint: there are income taxes that don't go by the name "income tax".


Not really. I wouldn't consider payroll taxes an "income tax" just because they are deducted from one's paycheck.


Notice how the OP didn't make a distinction between the different kinds of taxes on her income.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 18:35     Subject: Re:"Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Let's see some evidence for these claims.

When Massachusetts enacted a "millionaire's tax" on the wealthy (4% surtax on income over a million dollars), lots of spoiled rich people threatened to leave. And probably some did. But it hasn't been the exodus that some thought it would be, and 2 years later, the revenue generated by the tax has been more than twice what had been expected. In the first year alone, $2.5 billion was collected.

TAX THE RICH. Make them squeal like the pigs they are.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/28/massachusetts-millionaires-tax-institute-policy-studies-newsletter


I'm aware of what you're talking about re MA but these claims by progressives have been slapped down by fiscal watchdogs. Mainly because wealth grew at similar rates everywhere in the US in the same time span. It's called inflation. And mirrors the major gains in asset values and stock markets.

The pattern of high net worth reestablishing residencies in places like Florida is an old one and shows no signs of slowing down. It's easy, spend winters in Florida where the very wealthy are well catered for, and summers in New England or the Hamptons. At that threshold the tax savings are substantial.





Citations needed.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 18:23     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.


There's not even a 15% tax bracket in the US. 10% from $0-11,925 (single fileer), 12% $11,926 – $48,475
22%: $48,476 – $103,350. Where's this 15% you come up with?

Standard deduction is $15,750 for single filer.


You don't seem to understand the tax system. Hint: there are income taxes that don't go by the name "income tax".


Not really. I wouldn't consider payroll taxes an "income tax" just because they are deducted from one's paycheck.


They're taxed at 15% of income and fund federal programs. They're federal income taxes. And quite regressive ones, since the rich don't need to pay them on their full income.

It simply isn't accurate to claim 40% of households don't pay federal income taxes. At best, you don't being overly pedantic by picking and choosing which types of income taxes you want to count.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 18:10     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Flatten the tax code.

The top 50% of earners do not need to pay 97% of the entire yearly income tax, while the bottom 50% pay the remaining 3%.

It creates a whole class of people who pay for nothing, and demand everything.


How much of the country’s wealth and income do the top 50% make and own?


Are you suggesting the least productive members of society should benefit from the productivity of others? That sounds like theft.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:51     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Flatten the tax code.

The top 50% of earners do not need to pay 97% of the entire yearly income tax, while the bottom 50% pay the remaining 3%.

It creates a whole class of people who pay for nothing, and demand everything.


How much of the country’s wealth and income do the top 50% make and own?
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:43     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.


There's not even a 15% tax bracket in the US. 10% from $0-11,925 (single fileer), 12% $11,926 – $48,475
22%: $48,476 – $103,350. Where's this 15% you come up with?

Standard deduction is $15,750 for single filer.


You don't seem to understand the tax system. Hint: there are income taxes that don't go by the name "income tax".


Not really. I wouldn't consider payroll taxes an "income tax" just because they are deducted from one's paycheck.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:41     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
the carried interest loophole needs to be closed, as well as capital gains being taxed at lower rates than regular income. rather than
raising taxes on wages/salary. Since the super wealthy rely more on passive income streams, this would have more impact to lessen inequality than raising income taxes on high wage earners. without it being a wealth tax.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:34     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.


There's not even a 15% tax bracket in the US. 10% from $0-11,925 (single fileer), 12% $11,926 – $48,475
22%: $48,476 – $103,350. Where's this 15% you come up with?

Standard deduction is $15,750 for single filer.


You don't seem to understand the tax system. Hint: there are income taxes that don't go by the name "income tax".
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:21     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.


There's not even a 15% tax bracket in the US. 10% from $0-11,925 (single fileer), 12% $11,926 – $48,475
22%: $48,476 – $103,350. Where's this 15% you come up with?

Standard deduction is $15,750 for single filer.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 17:06     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Even by DCUM standards, the OP is ridiculous. This must be a troll. The 37% number is a giveaway. Even at an extreme income level, that's hard to hit, since you can avoid social security and Medicare taxes on your full income. But it happens to be the top marginal income tax rate. That's too much of a coincidence.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 16:55     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more


Disingenuous. There's a 15% tax starting from their first dollar of income.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 16:51     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
40% of US households don't pay any net federal income tax. Zero. And I am sure they are among the ones calling for the others to pay more
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 16:23     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
IN MoCo particulary in rich Asian families they transfer house to kids and parents "live" in a tax free state but in realty do multicultural living.


My co-worker parents moved to Vegas where they bought a small condo and spend most of time in their 2.5 million Bethesda home they passed onto their only son and her wife and kids.

I think a lot of those MoCo people are only moving on paper
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 16:20     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
My Uncle back in the 1970s paid 90 percent income tax. when adding in NYS taxes

BTW in 1944–1945: The top marginal income tax rate hit 94% on income above $200,000. and that was before state tax.

You are paying too little.
Anonymous
Post 11/26/2025 16:13     Subject: "Tax the Rich"
Anonymous wrote:Flat tax of 15 across for everyone no deductions or credits


Besides that being a horrible policy, that's not even close to what it would be. Assuming you tax capital gains, you'd still need a flat tax of about 25%.

And, of course, many people proposing flat taxes want to exclude capital gains meaning this would be higher and more regressive. Some want to maintain Social Security and Medicare taxes as currently structured, which would make it even more regressive.