Reply #140: I was doing taxes back during the 70% rate. [View All]

[Cleita]

There were so many loopholes back then that most in the 70% bracket paid less taxes than those in the 20% bracket. Did you know you could write off all of your medical expenses then as well as the interest on your loans and credit cards? I think a straight 33% at the top rate with no tax rebates or write offs would collect more than the old 70% bracket, which looked bad on paper as well. It's like you hear that Europeans pay 50% of their wages for social programs, when the truth is that only a small percentage of top income earners actually pay 50% and the average wage earner pays about 20%.