How I Paid Only 1% of My Income in Federal Income Tax

[whirlygigspin]

by Eric Schoenberg
Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia Business School
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-schoenberg/how-i-paid-1-of-my-income_b_852948.html


"In 2009, the median U.S. family had an income of just under $50,000, on which they would have paid roughly $2,761 (or about 5.5%) in federal income tax. I, by contrast, enjoyed an income of $207,415 in 2009, but paid only $2,173 (or 1.0%) in income tax."

"While the Republicans talk about the "shared sacrifices" necessary to close our government's budget deficit, their plan imposes pain mostly on the sick, the elderly, and the poor. Asking the rich to sacrifice by paying higher tax rates surely pales in comparison. I believe that having wealthy investors pay taxes at the same rate as middle-class workers would be an important step towards making sure that we all contribute to putting our fiscal house in order."

[midnight]

1. K&R

[dkf]

2. Try being a single person without kids or a mortgage.

Biggest ripoff ever.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Try being a family that is treated like singles....

That is the biggest ripoff ever. As well as being insulting, bigoted, inhuman and just stupid, it is also a huge ripoff. April is the cruelest month.

[drmeow]

4. While the bigotry has to stop

there may not be a cost benefit in April. It "cost" me $2000 to get married. The amount my taxes as a single person would have been and the amount my spouse's taxes would have been added to together was $2000 less than the amount we paid as a married couple filing jointly (to add insult to injury we'd only been married for 3 days of the year we had to file jointly). While the "marriage penalty" was reduced for a while (I think that part of the tax code has somewhat reverted back), the tax code continues to be designed for a primarily single bread winner. If you and your partner have similar incomes, you total taxes are likely to go up after marriage, not down.

[CreekDog]

5. "Ripoff" is only if you feel entitled to paying the same amount as those in other circumstances

:eyes: