Tax brackets determine how much tax you pay based on your income level. In a progressive tax system, different portions of your income are taxed at different rates, meaning you pay a lower rate on the initial income and higher rates on income that exceeds certain thresholds.
You blame Trump for wanting to downsize the tax system (not under any delusions of altruism here, he wants to do it for the same exact reason I did something once).
[Insert long story about installing DVD player to a school computer here]
When you help yourself, you help others.
And this is Trump. Being a self-interested guy, he knows about tax audits, so he doesn't want them.
And here you useless twits are, deluding yourself into thinking that nobody needs help.
You think taxes help people, so you uselessly defend them. "Look at how high tariffs have made prices!" No, what I see is the effect of people pricing new products to profit, and claiming that this is the result of added shipping costs. Or people actively sabotaging the new system because they are petty grasping idiots who would rather 300 million (the rough population of the US) suffer here, and 8 billion worldwide suffer because they can't fucking stand that this tax system might work in the long run.
You are the 1%. Not of wealth though. You're the 1% of people who doesn't care for your fellow man and instead goes around trying to punish people for success, because you think wealth means people hoard. Because that's what
you would do.
If America saves money, they can pass their saving on to third world countries through trade or charity. The same money that USAID mismanaged through woke agenda. If you keep 600 of them instead of 10,000 and focus more on nation building than handouts, each country can thrive on its own terms. Or we can keep paying money to these countries, only to see it not ever get to people who need help.
https://www.newsweek.com/lefts-goal-usaid-reform-finally-accomplished-trump-opinion-2029951Because it goes mainly to countries, not their people. And because USAID funds sketchy things like political intervention.
It's only argument from fallacy if you only part of your argument is wrong. But when your entire argument comes from a false statement, then it's not.
Yeah, so then you're claiming that because I got the part (how big the tax brackets are) wrong, that the whole is wrong. But unlike a flat tax, which actually just takes 10% whether you have $50 or $50,000,000, each bracket abruptly upgrades. You are correct in that I've never done my own taxes though. At least, I've never made over $11,000.
If I am wrong, there is a calculator.
https://goodcalculators.com/us-tax-brackets-calculator/Okay, what appears to happen is that we get a percentage of percentage. That is to say, up to $11600 the amount taxed is 10% + up to 47,150 (minus previous) is 12% + up to 100,525 (minus previous) is 22% + etc.
In other words, rather than a simple to calculate rising percent, it is a stupid derpy additive percent. And they don't think to show this equation on any online tax materials... There's two problems with this. First, it works out to almost 10% in the lower cases, with math needlessly inflicted on the American population (so that tax accountants can be paid since the rest of America doesn't understand the system; which leads to third parties potentially defrauding people). Second, if you assume, like a regular person does, that this means a change in percent (instead of the convoluted additive math formula), then you overpay, and the IRS is either honest and gives you the money back, or doesn't notice the mistake (or is dishonest) and as I say, you lose twice as much because you understood it wrong. Do you REALLY want a tax on the stupid?
https://goodcalculators.com/us-salary-tax-calculator/#2024-Federal-Tax-Brackets-Tax-RatesUsing the United States Tax Calculator is fairly simple.
First, enter your 'Gross Salary' amount where shown.
Next, select the 'Filing Status' drop-down menu and choose which option applies to you. If you are filing taxes and are married, you have the option to file your taxes along with your partner.
Next, select the 'State' drop-down menu and choose whichever state you live in. This section allows for state tax to be calculated, although the option to not consider state tax is given.
Next, enter the number of dependents that you will be declaring in the box marked 'No. Dependents'.
Finally, if there are any other deductions that you would like to apply then enter them in the 'Monthly Deductions' box. This includes any retirement plan contributions that you may be putting aside each month.
Anyone looking at that tax bracket would listen to them say it's fairly simple, and skip their directions to try to do a simple percentage (basically every person with any ADHD does this). No sane person would think to do additive percents. Nor is that mentioned on the "simple" directions. Half the time, you forgot something on your income that Uncle Sam knows about, but you're the one who has to fill out the form as an unpaid tax worker.
You have to read about eight more paragraphs to find out the way taxes are done is completely alien to any sensible system and relies on tax accountants being honest, the IRS being honest, and the Federal Reserve being honest. That's a big ask. "That's a yuge ask," to quote Trump.
So let's compare progressive tax to a 10% flat tax.
$47151 is our value:
10% of $11600 +
12% of $35550 +
22% of $1=
$5426.22
10% of 47151=
$4715.10
Not only did they weasel out about $700 more, but they had you do seven pages of tax instructions instead of one line of intuitive math (it's about 11.5% as real percent, not 22%). So that when you get it wrong, you cannot figure out why.
Please explain why you justify this! I admit my original understanding was wrong, but nothing of the table explained why it was wrong, I had to actually look at the math that the calculator was doing.
Instead of doing loads of fake cumulative math, someone should crunch the real percents, show that on a table, and have that as the new progressive math. It would likely move from 10% to about 30% up to the top tier. No tax on the stupid, you just enter it into a calculator, and you're done for the day. So $631,000 moves from:
11600 (10%)+
35550 (12%)+
53375 (22%)+
91425 (24%)+
51775 (32%)+
365625 (35%)+
21650 (37%)=
$191657.75
(All of which I'll forget tomorrow, nevermind the next tax season. FFS!)
to
631000 (30.5%) =
$192455
Or you could do 0.5% non-cumulative percent every $10,000 (meaning $80,000 pays 4%), stopping when you get to 30.5%. Most of the people making under $10,000 a year would thank you.
Or... I could pay $63,100 on taxes with a flat 10% tax.
Or... I could just pay more sales tax and throw away the form.
Or... I could throw away the whole lot, and let foreigners do math. I'd rather do that. And I'll pay more on the occasional good, or just stop buying from them.
Math is the curse of the American people. The more math the American people have to do to keep their money, the more oppressed they are.