According to the article, the taxpayers with the top 10% of income made $4.2 trillion and paid $0.79 trillion in federal income tax. Since the 2010 budget deficit is about $1.4 trillion, the U.S. could achieve a balanced budget by collecting $2.2 trillion from these taxpayers. This would only be 52% of their income, leaving another 48% that could be collected to pay off the national debt:-)
I can now see why politicians are targeting the rich for higher taxes. However, I expect the rich, working with their accountants, will figure out ways to reduce their taxable income before higher tax rates are enacted.
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1 comment:
This assumes that our spending would remain constant. I bet the government would act like someone who just won the lottery if we started taxing at a higher rate. They would go on a spending spree creating tons of new welfare and entitlement programs. We would then have a conversation about how if we only taxed the rich at 75% we would be free and clear.
I wouldn't be so against increased taxes if I thought the government was running as efficiently as possible and we really did have a revenue problem. But I don't think anyone can say that's the case with a straight face.
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