Monday, August 18, 2008

Make $111,645 per year or less? Obama's Income Tax Plan is Better!

(clik graphic to embiggen)
So says the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Under the McCain income tax plan, if you make $111,645 /year you will pay $281 more than you would under the Obama tax plan. Isn't reality grand!

If you are amongst the 60% of taxpayers that make less than $66,354/year your tax savings will be even greater with the Obama plan. Hundreds of dollars. The less you make, the better the Obama tax plan looks. How does he pay for lower taxes for people making less than $111,645/year? He raises taxes on people that make more than $600,000/year - those unfortunate souls that John McCain believes deserve a tax cut. Now you know.

11 comments:

David Briggman said...

Neither plan holds a candle to the FairTax.

Bubby said...

Asking Americans to pay a 30% sales tax on everyday items like gasoline, utility bills, medical expenses, rent, and credit card interest is a non-starter Dave. We can't even convince Virginians to pay a 1 cent/gallon gas tax! I've looked at this thing and it has a nice simplicity and an air of fairness, but the Treasury Department estimates that only people that make less than $15K/year, or more than $200,000K/year would see a net tax decrease.

In it's current form the Fair Tax has a snowball's chance of going anywhere. Folks that want more info can find it here

Anonymous said...

I would prefer anything to this punitive progressive tax system we have. What is the point of staying in school, going to college, earning a degree and advanced degrees if all you do is pay more and more taxes? The progressive tax system we have destroys self inititive and a will to better one's self.

I would much prefer a flat tax rate where everyone pays the same percentage rate. It's fair, it lets people who want to earn more money do so without being penalized, and it's simple. Pay 10% no refunds, deductions, exemptions or credits.

David Briggman said...

It's 23%, Bubby...read the book AND the legislation.

Additionally, the FairTax has undergone about $20,000,000 of non-government research tax dollars.

Maybe I can get Boortz to address the FactCheck.ORG rebuttal on his show, tomorrow?

Lowell Fulk said...

That would be great Dave, Thank you!
Good to see you at the fair btw.
Always enjoy speaking with you.

Bubby said...

Dave; I did read the legislation. A 23 percent sales tax on the tax-inclusive sales price is equivalent to a 30 percent tax on the actual price of the item. It's a math thing.

That's a heavy load on a commodity that we all know has a price that is not controlled by American producers or is ever inflating (oil, health care, CC interest).

Draegn - you need to do the homework, no Fair Tax proponent offers anything close to a 10% rate - the rate will be 30%. Really, it is ugly. We have bills to pay in America.

Unknown said...

Why is it fair that I have to pay the same tax rate on my income as someone who earns less than me? I would prefer if we just had a head tax where each man, woman, and child paid the exact same amount each year to the federal government. Isn't that more fair than the fair tax?

zen said...

Having everyone pay the same tax ignores the imbalance in consumption. Someone who owns four cars consumes a much larger portion of infrastructure, versus someone that doesn't own a car at all.

Deb SF said...

Dave, I think, is talking about the fair tax- a consumption tax. D88 is talking about the flat tax, an income tax. Different pros and cons for each.

Bubby said...

To Zen's point, the fair tax concept has a yearly payment to low-income or poverty level folks that would off-set this large consumption tax on necessities - think it is currently $6,000/year.

My concern is that when people are faced with a 30% tax on big ticket items, or easily concealed purchases, that they will get very sneaky about avoiding the tax, we'll build an even bigger IRS enforcement agency and be right back to intimidating people to pay their fair share.

Unknown said...

Tax avoidance happens with every tax including the income tax. Why not get rid of all income tax credits, deductions, write offs, etc. and have a slow escalating progressive tax starting at .1% with a cut off of say 30-35%? This eliminates the problems associated with marginal tax rates and simplifies the system.