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In which countries do high earners pay the most tax? In Germany the rate drops from 39.9% to 21.3% because of generous child tax credits. When Are German Taxes Due? ; KPMG's Individual Income Tax and Social Security Rate Survey 2009 (www.kpmg.com), and PricewaterhouseCoopers's Worldwide Tax Summaries Online (www.pwc.com). Back in the 50s (under Republican Eisenhower) income > 2 million was taxed at 80%. ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files. I’m glad the post points out the unfairness in the US system that the top 1% of all earners pay over 40%, the top 10% pay over 70%, and the bottom 50% account for less than 3% of all income taxes. ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files. The top rate of tax in the UK is less than half that now but it's still a source of controversy. However, it would reduce the overall tax rate on capital income even further below that of Germany. Some taxes, such as most property taxes, are imposed directly on the value of owners’ assets, while others, such as capital gains taxes, tax income accruing to capital. Israel, Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain all levy taxes above 40% on high income individuals. People who argue the opposite side say the rich should pay, at the minimum, the same percentage as middle class citizens. The GOP tax plan would have only a marginal effect on the wage tax burden: Though it would lower the top marginal rate from 39.6% to 33%, it would also repeal nearly all itemized deductions (with the exception of charitable and mortgage interest) and is hence estimated to have little effect on total revenue raised from labor income. Many of the super rich understand that they are incapable of making their money if it were not for the very system they are paying into. In 2015, Germany’s consumption tax burden was over 18%, compared with under 7% for the U.S. As noted earlier, the VAT alone accounted for 31% of Germany’s tax revenue in 2015, while sales tax accounted for 10% of the U.S.’s tax revenue. The statisticians at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have done some analysis of average salaries. In view of such alarmingly high foreign tax rates, it’s no wonder MSN quoted Urban Institute senior fellow Eric Toder as saying “…when you look at the overall tax burden, the U.S. is quote low.” Overall tax burdens aren’t the only important consideration, however. They assume this person is married with two children, one of them aged under six.
The reason for this is quite simple: Increased globalization has made it easier for multinational enterprises to shift their reported profits around the world in order to pay less in taxes. The totals are then divided by gross operating surplus from the national accounts to get a measure of the average tax burden. Intuit, QuickBooks, QB, TurboTax, ProConnect, and Mint are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. These tax rates apply to single people with no children, on an average salary for their country. The following tax rates apply to married couples with two children. Why do we automatically demand that the rich have to pay more? The US overtaxes and unfairly distributes the burden.
5 Niall McCarthy, 2017, “How Trump’s corporate tax proposal would compare with other countries,” Forbes, April 27, provides an example of one such misleading comparison.
think of the math – the top 1% pay 40% of all taxes because they MAKE 40% of the income in the US! After all it is an income tax.
In summary, U.S. corporations do face a higher tax burden than German corporations. Where Has All the Productivity Growth Gone?
Thus, the conventional wisdom is correct: At this broad level, the United States is a relatively low-tax nation.