Top marginal tax rate in US now ~65%

[Ben Kenobi]

See? You validated my point; even with the taxes you have to pay, you're doing great. With a much higher income I would be doing the same.

The irony is that Fun wants to ensure he remains poor.

[kentonio]

I truly don't understand what point you're trying to make here.

How about the point that if you can save a years income in just three years while simultaneously living a wealthy lifestyle, that you have no real ground to stand on when you start *****ing about your taxes going up slightly?

[Dauphin]

Nope. Also no lower limit below which you don't pay it. It's one of the government's biggest earners.

It drops from 12 to 2 per cent at around the 45k mark. And the lower limit is the same as the personal allowance (allocated weekly,fortnightly or monthly). Or are you talking about something else?

[dannubis]

You dream of only having 35% of your income for your own use?

Marginal income, if you are being intellectually honest.

[Ben Kenobi]

How about the point that if you can save a years income in just three years while simultaneously living a wealthy lifestyle, that you have no real ground to stand on when you start *****ing about your taxes going up slightly?

Damn him for having the temerity to actually get ahead of the game.

[Dauphin]

You dream of only having 35% of your income for your own use?

Edit - misread.

[Kidlicious]

I was at around 43% effective tax rate last year (2011). Probably closer to 38% this year (2012) and 40-41% for 2013.

Edit: numbers based around the following simplifying assumptions

Count federal, state and local income tax
Count payroll taxes on both sides (employer and employee)
Do not count imputed future taxes on max contribution to 401k and employer contributions
As income do not count contributions to 401k and employer contributions
Count as income employer side of payroll taxes
Count as income capital losses realized for tax purposes
Do not count as income unrealized capital gains
Do count as income dividends

The average effective tax rate isn't that high, and it isn't typical for a married couple, earning what you say, to pay 60% effective tax. If they are super rich they pay around 50%.

[KrazyHorse]

How about the point that if you can save a years income in just three years while simultaneously living a wealthy lifestyle, that you have no real ground to stand on when you start *****ing about your taxes going up slightly?

Perhaps you need to re-evaluate what I've been saying here. Especially the parts where I explicitly explained how little my taxes were impacted by this...

[MikeH]

It drops from 12 to 2 per cent at around the 45k mark. And the lower limit is the same as the personal allowance (allocated weekly,fortnightly or monthly). Or are you talking about something else?

You know, I thought it was something like that, then checked the govenment website and it convinced me I was wrong. Nice that their site is so clear.

[kentonio]

Perhaps you need to re-evaluate what I've been saying here. Especially the parts where I explicitly explained how little my taxes were impacted by this...

Perhaps, but then I'd need to stop being snarky and flippant.

[Kidlicious]

That wouldn't be any fun.

[Aeson]

You dream of only having 35% of your income for your own use?

Guy is married, so has roughly 0% of his own income for his own use![/AlBundy]

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Why are personal exemptions and itemized deductions being phased out? I thought people were talking about capping them?

edit: I didn't know about personal exemption phaseouts but it doesn't seem like it would make a very big difference.

Regardless of exemptions allowed in current law

Three letters from post 24 - AMT.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Marginal income, if you are being intellectually honest.

Marginal income from ordinary income, excluding capital gains not taxed as ordinary income.

[Tupac Shakur]

You can always trust brainless partisans like fun to miss the point.

The US welfare state is doomed when children like yourself refuse to acknowledge simple mathematics and focus on political theater.

QFT