Oh noes, teh overtaxed Americans!

[chequita guevara]

So, fellow USAians, what's yer marginal federal income tax rate. Everyone knows how much we ***** and moan about being taxed, but lets look at some numbers. To get yer marginal rate you compare the tax you actually pay against your gross income.

I came up with 5.6% for myself.

Of course, that really isn't the end of it. For those of us making under $100K, 13.5% is lopped off top, and then there's sales taxes and state income taxes and various fees and what not. Still, in direct taxes, I paid about 20% of my income last year to the US, Florida, and Broward and Dade counties.

[Zkribbler]

Let me rephrase that. What you're saying is:

Compare your gross annual income with the income tax you pay.

[DanS]

I know you don't mean any harm che, but those who don't want to announce their income to the entire internet shouldn't answer this question.

[Zkribbler]

But he's not asking for income to be listed, only the percentage of income paid as income tax.

[OzzyKP]

If you're clever you could figure that out based on the tax bracket.

[Zkribbler]

Sure...but is anyone here really that clever?

[OzzyKP]

Not me.

[loinburger]

I just checked my leave-and-earnings statement. Withholdings divided by gross pay yields somewhere in the ballpark of 35% (I've got X% of wages that are tax-exempt or tax-deferred that is included in gross pay but doesn't figure in to my taxes). Considering that I just about broke even on taxes this year (I owed the feds $200 and the state owed me $200), that figure ought to be pretty close to the marginal rate (whatever the hell that is).

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by DanS
I know you don't mean any harm che, but those who don't want to announce their income to the entire internet shouldn't answer this question.

Why would you care?

[OzzyKP]

Cause he's loaded and doesn't live too far from us.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


Why would you care?

good point. Almost certainly you're just announcing what some mostly anonymous avatar on the internet makes unless you're worried about people at poly meets knowing your income.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Last year I paid 5.9% in federal income. PA state tax is a flat 3.07%. That's 8.97%. I don't pay any other income taxes. I also don't pay any sales taxes (I live overseas, am exempt from local VAT, and don't pay sales tax on the stuff I order from the US). And, frankly, the amount I pay in Social Security tax is probably the amount I would be sending to my mother directly if there were no such thing as Social Security.

So, just one or two more GOP tax cuts, and they'll be paying me to be a citizen.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Geronimo


good point. Almost certainly you're just announcing what some mostly anonymous avatar on the internet makes unless you're worried about people at poly meets knowing your income.

I think only Ming has to worry about that ...

I think i'm right around Che's boat, about 20% total including FICA/Medicare/etc.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Last year I paid 5.9% in federal income. PA state tax is a flat 3.07%. That's 8.97%. I don't pay any other income taxes. I also don't pay any sales taxes (I live overseas, am exempt from local VAT, and don't pay sales tax on the stuff I order from the US). And, frankly, the amount I pay in Social Security tax is probably the amount I would be sending to my mother directly if there were no such thing as Social Security.

So, just one or two more GOP tax cuts, and they'll be paying me to be a citizen.

Good point about sales taxes. I suppose I pay another 9% on nearly everything except rent, which is 22% of my gross income, so add another 7% or so to that figure

[KrazyHorse]

Che, you should get your terms straight.

Your marginal tax rate is the tax rate paid on the highest dollar of taxable earned income.

Your effective tax rate is the total amount of taxes paid divided by gross income

Last year I made very close to 20000$. The total amount of tax owed to the federal government was very close to 1750$, giving me an effective federal tax rate of ~8.7%. The total amount of income tax owed to the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore was near 1200$, giving me an effective state&local tax rate of ~6.0%, for a grand total of 14.7% effective tax rate.

My marginal federal tax rate, on the other hand, was 15%

My marginal state tax rate is 4.75% and my marginal local tax rate is 3.05% (all taxable income is taxed at this rate)

I do not pay any FICA or Medicare contributions