Fact check: The wealthy already pay more taxes

[mandym]

WASHINGTON – President Obama says he wants to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries. The data say they already are.

Warren Buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it," Obama said as he announced his deficit-reduction plan this week. "It is wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50,000 should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million."

On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government......

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/story/2011-09-20/buffett-tax-millionaires/50480226/1

 

[Bob Alkire]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/story/2011-09-20/buffett-tax-millionaires/50480226/1

Are you trying to cause trouble? Truth does not play well with many folks when it come to who and how much people pay in taxes.

 

[Matt Black]

Poppycock! The richest 5% are the biggest tax-dodgers of them all. They have hotshot accountants able to pull all sorts of balance sheet gymnastics to reduce their tax bills. The very rich and very poor pay marginally very little in taxes; it's left to us poor sods in the squeezed middle to pick up the tab.

 

[targus]

I find it funny that the Dems keep bringing up Buffet and how he really really really wants to pay more in taxes...

...while fighting with the IRS about his billion dollar tax debt. :laugh:

 

[targus]

Maybe Obama should recommend that Buffet's secretary illegally deduct political contributions from her taxable income when filing her next tax return...

... like Obama did for years before running for President. :laugh:

 

[billwald]

Note the text mentions "incomes" above 1 million but not 10 million, 100 million, or a billion. Why? Several reasons.

First compare the annual gross increase of assets of most everyone on this list with the gross increase of the super rich. Most every cent made by wage earners is taxable income and 80% of it is spent or paid out in taxes. The guy whose annual increase is capital gains only pays taxes on the part he cashes in.

Second, does anyone think the guy with the 100 million increase spends ten times more than the guy with only 10 million increase? I think not.

Thus pragmatically, call it income tax if you wish, but the super rich only pay tax on money they spend, not on their net increase - a sales tax. They buy something, they pay a federal sales tax on it. They don't buy anything, they don't pay. If a wage earner was a miser and lived on 20% of his wages he would still pay on 100%.