Quote from morganist:
do you think it will ever get to the point where people stop working because they are being taxed too much. or that they will revert to illegal activities.
do you think the government creates poverty rather than reducing it through over taxing people.
Certainly.
140 years ago in the US, the idea of an "income tax" was initiated... I believe it was related to our Civil War costs.. and it started at 3%.
How bad is it today? With Peolsi's proposed top Federal income tax rate of 45% + the proposed 5% vat....
If I started a little personal service business today which produced $100,000 in after tax profits, here's what my tax situation might look like....
1. Federal Income tax................. 45%
2. Social Security and Medicare.... 15.3%
3. State Income tax.................... 4.65%
4. Property tax............................ 6.6%
5. Sales Tax if all spent on taxable. 8.2%
6. Pelosi's VAT............................. 5%
While it's not as simple as adding up those taxes (Federal tax is deductible against State taxable income, State income tax is deductible against Federal... but then there's the AMT, which recovers part/all deductions as income increases)... a decent rough estimate of "Total Taxes" from my $100K = ~ $76,000.
And out of my $24,000 left over, I could soon have a MANDATORY payment into a health care plan ($800-$1,000/mo?) or PERHAPS FACE PRISION of up to 5 years!
So, what incentive to I have to start such a business??
When we get annoyed at politicos or other [supposed] public servants, we often like to say, "I pay your salary. You work for me".
Wel, the first part of that is true... the second part is wrong... we ALL in the private sector work for the government these days...
