Yesterday, House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson gave his first press conference. The billionaires sure picked the right guy: his performance was flawless. Slick, slimy, and unctuous.For example, even though every dollar the IRS spends auditing billionaires produces between $6 and $12 in added tax revenue...
If you think 38.5 is insane, have I got news for you!
The current top US tax rate is 37%. ;)
But the rates are also graduated… which is something most people do not understand.
I’m going to use the “Married, Filing Jointly” numbers since that applies to my example:
10% - $0 to $22,000
12% - $22,001 to $89,450
22% - $89,451 to $190,750
24% - $190,751 to $364,200
32% - $364,201 to $462,500
35% - $462,501 to $693,750
37% - $693,751 or more
So you only get taxed at 37% if you make $693,751 or more. But that does NOT mean your tax liability is $256,687.87.
You would pay 10% on the first $22K, 12% up to $89,450, 22% up to $190,750… and so on.
If you make exactly $693,751 you are paying 37% on exactly 1 dollar of income, because the other $693,750 has already been taxed at lower rates.
So for my wife and myself, we combined for $169,000 last year.
10% - $0 to $22,000 - $2,200
12% - $22,001 to $89,450 - $8,094
22% - $89,451 to $190,750 - $17,501
Our total tax liability was $27,795 out of $169,000 or 16.45%. Even though we’re in the 22% bracket, we only paid 22% on the income from $89,451 to $169,000.
By the time you count in how much was with-held and how much our deductions were, we actually got a pretty nice refund last year.
Well yeah I’m a taxpayer. Someone wouldn’t criticize tax policy without understanding how their taxes work right?
And yeah I’m thinking in terms of the top bracket which should be set above comfortable upper middle class. At a certain point you have a ton of money, and if you’re trying to retire early using a huge income you can use a Roth IRA and have it taxed as you pull from it slower than you put in to it. These people aren’t paying their fair share and instead we borrow the money to make up for their failure to contribute