Actual Rate of Taxation

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

If people added up all the taxes that applied to them, I wonder what the actual rate of taxation would be for the average person? I think I read somewhere (possibly on the libertarian website?) that the avereage person actually pays somewhaere in the range of 65%.

A friend of mine sent me an email containing alot of these taxes and it really made me think about how we truly are overtaxed. I think our federal government should dedicate itself to a cutting phases and get a little more lean and mean.

Crazy I say.

[i]Accounts Receivable Tax

Building Permit Tax

Capital Gains Tax

CDL license Tax

Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Court Fines
(indirect taxes)

Dog License Tax

Federal Income Tax

Federal Unemployment Tax
(FUTA)

Fishing License Tax

Food License Tax

Fuel permit tax

Gasoline Tax
(42 cents per gallon)

Hunting License Tax

Inheritance Tax Interest expense
(tax on the money)

Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges
(tax on top of tax)

IRS Penalties
(tax on top of tax)

Liquor Tax

Local Income Tax

Luxury Taxes

Marriage License Tax

Medicare Tax

Property Tax

Real Estate Tax

Self employment tax
(I earned about this guy last year)

Septic Permit Tax

Service Charge Taxes

Social Security Tax

Road Usage Taxes
(Truckers)

Sales Taxes

Recreational Vehicle Tax

Road Toll Booth Taxes

School Tax

State Income Tax

State Unemployment Tax
(SUTA)

Telephone federal excise tax

Telephone federal universal service fee tax

Telephone federal, state and
local surcharge taxes

Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax

Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax

Telephone state and local tax

Telephone usage charge tax

Toll Bridge Taxes

Toll Tunnel Taxes

Traffic Fines
(indirect taxation)

Trailer registration tax

Utility Taxes

Vehicle License Registration Tax

Vehicle Sales Tax

Watercraft registration Tax

Well Permit Tax

Workers Compensation Tax[/i]

Does anyone see a tax that is missing??

2

I have a real problem with the Inheritance Tax (and some others). Why should the government be allowed to tax the same money twice?

3

[quote]nephorm wrote:
I have a real problem with the Inheritance Tax (and some others). Why should the government be allowed to tax the same money twice?[/quote]

Precisely. This is one of the taxes that pisses me off the most as well. Really lets the citizens know that the government considers everything to be their property.

Try paying off your house and getting too far behind on your property taxes. You’ll find out how much you can’t own your own land and home when the government confiscates your house and sells it.

“Real eastate” is just a derivitave of "royal estate. In a very real sense, we’re all just a bunch of serfs working for the king.

4

I have been self employed for 20 years and who ever pays me to do a service must also pay my taxes. That would be a tough tax to calculate.

5

I don’t know the answer to the original question, but I heard that every US citizen will owe 20,000 dollars to fund the war in Iraq. We’re going to spend half a trillion tax dollars there.

We spend 1.2 billion tax dollars per week on the Iraq occupation… Condi Rice says we may need to be there for 20 years… no plan for success and no exit stategy (stay the course is not a plan).

If you want to be mad about taxes, be mad about how we are hemoraghing tax money in Iraq.

6

[quote]Brad61 wrote:
I don’t know the answer to the original question, but I heard that every US citizen will owe 20,000 dollars to fund the war in Iraq. We’re going to spend half a trillion tax dollars there.

We spend 1.2 billion tax dollars per week on the Iraq occupation… Condi Rice says we may need to be there for 20 years… no plan for success and no exit stategy (stay the course is not a plan).

If you want to be mad about taxes, be mad about how we are hemoraghing tax money in Iraq.[/quote]

Weren’t you the one complaining about the republicans taking threads off topic in the thread about why we don’t stay on topic?

It is a good thing they instituted all those new taxes listed above to pay for the war.

What? We paid those taxes before the war? How can this be?

7

No, Bush put the costs of the war on our credit card, and our kids’ credit card, and their kids’ credit card.

It’s done that way to please the short-sighted idiots who wanted a war in Iraq but they don’t want to actually pay for it, they want to pass most of the costs off on their own kids.

8

[quote]nephorm wrote:
I have a real problem with the Inheritance Tax (and some others). Why should the government be allowed to tax the same money twice?[/quote]

The inheritance tax only applies to the very richest Americans, as estates are only taxed if they exceed a certain amount (somewhere in the low millions. In addition, with the reduction of the capital gains tax, much of the inheritance would only have been lightly taxed originally. I don’t have any problem with a tax that targets the richest 1% of the population, for assets that they did not earn.

9

[quote]dermo wrote:
nephorm wrote:
I have a real problem with the Inheritance Tax (and some others). Why should the government be allowed to tax the same money twice?

The inheritance tax only applies to the very richest Americans, as estates are only taxed if they exceed a certain amount (somewhere in the low millions. In addition, with the reduction of the capital gains tax, much of the inheritance would only have been lightly taxed originally. I don’t have any problem with a tax that targets the richest 1% of the population, for assets that they did not earn.[/quote]

Anyway you look at it, the inherritance tax is bogus. It is a form of double taxation. FYI - It is tapering up (to $10 M, I think), and then it will drop (to $1 M in 2010, I think).

As far as actual taxes paid by the average person - it depends what you mean by the average person. We all pay different types of taxes, but the federal tax system is set up as a welfare outlet. So, if you’re talking about the married guy with kids making $35g a year, I doubt he’s paying anything when it’s all said and done.

Just my 2cents.

10

[quote]bigflamer wrote:
Does anyone see a tax that is missing??
[/quote]

I don’t see a tax that is missing, but not all of those taxes apply everywhere in America and most of them don’t apply to most people. Heck, some states don’t even have sales tax (Orgeon) while others don’t have state tax (Texas).

I do get your point though, that there are just a crap load of different taxes for a crap load of different things.

But i’d make a big deal about the progressive tax system before I made a big deal about all the things that are taxed.

11

[quote]terribleivan wrote:
dermo wrote:

Anyway you look at it, the inherritance tax is bogus. It is a form of double taxation.

quote]

Maybe someone more familiar with the tax code could elaborate, but isn’t the capital gains tax only 15%? For those inheriting investments, if there is no inheritance tax, that sum would only be subject to the capital gains of 15%. Doesn’t that seem a little light for millionaire heirs?

12

Why does everyone worry so much about tax percentages?

It drives me crazy that the more money you make the higher percentage of taxes you have to pay. Why can’t we just have a flat tax rate?

Why do rich people get penalized for being rich?

I’m seriously just completely curious about that.

13

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Why does everyone worry so much about tax percentages?

It drives me crazy that the more money you make the higher percentage of taxes you have to pay. Why can’t we just have a flat tax rate?

Why do rich people get penalized for being rich?

I’m seriously just completely curious about that.[/quote]

A flat tax system would have to do away with a lot of the deductions - otherwise, the wealthy could end up paying less than the poor.

14

Ok, then instead of changing to a flat tax system, how about just a flat tax rate?

15

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Ok, then instead of changing to a flat tax system, how about just a flat tax rate?[/quote]

Sales or income tax?

16

Income Tax.

[quote]dermo wrote:
JokerFMJ wrote:
Ok, then instead of changing to a flat tax system, how about just a flat tax rate?

Sales or income tax?[/quote]

17

You think you guys have it bad. We are a sreiously tax heavy country, NAtional insurance, TV license, Petrol that costs about 1 quid a litre, most of it tax.

I give in tax aound ?1500 tax a month, including petrol, council tax and income/national insurance.

But, i can smash myself to bits and get care.

18

[quote]miniross wrote:
But, i can smash myself to bits and get care.[/quote]

so can every U.S. citizen.

19

[quote]bigflamer wrote:
miniross wrote:
But, i can smash myself to bits and get care.

so can every U.S. citizen.

[/quote]

sorry to go off thread, but how does your “national health” work?

Also, you can get it if you are not a UK resident here. Is yours limited to to US citzens then?

20

[quote]miniross wrote:
bigflamer wrote:
miniross wrote:
But, i can smash myself to bits and get care.

so can every U.S. citizen.

sorry to go off thread, but how does your “national health” work?

Also, you can get it if you are not a UK resident here. Is yours limited to to US citzens then?[/quote]

Don’t we all wish.