That's an interesting read, aceventura3. It looks like taxing the wealthy is like trying to catch a greased pig.
I think it may even be more difficult than you describe when you consider that the wealthy have access to inside information from their (our) polititians and not only know where to make more money but also how to influence the law makers to protect it.
I have often thought that if the polititians who claim they want to level the playing field by increasing income taxes were really serious they would advocate taxing wealth instead. But then I imagine they would just write rules to allow themselves to escape it.
I also think that the poor and middle class pay a lot higher percentage of their income in taxes than most people realize, higher even than most wealthy do, simply because of the hidden taxes in most goods and services of which they must spend a larger portion on their income on. I don't think the sources included everything and the hidden taxes are even higher than those shown below.
Quote:
This chart shows the percent of an average worker's income taken by direct taxes. These taxes include Federal, state and local income taxes, worker paid Social Security taxes, and sales taxes. (See the Tax Foundation.)
In various surveys of taxpayers, most people indicated that a total tax rate of 25% would be acceptable. This included all levels of government taxation including Social Security, sales taxes, excise taxes, and property taxes. The chart shows the rate of increase for total direct taxes is fairly steady. In 1998 direct taxes took 35.4% of the average family's income.
With 35.4% of your earnings going to taxes, you must earn $1.55 to spend $1.00.
Hidden Taxes Consumers Pay
But, there are other taxes that are not so obviously removed from your pay. These taxes are not intended to be readily observable. Some of these taxes are paid by your company and add to the price of products or services you and your company charge for the products you produce. Your company, for example, pays an equal amount of Social Security taxes for you. Your company also pays a variety of other taxes such as unemployment taxes, workers compensation taxes, property taxes, corporate income taxes, energy taxes, pollution taxes, just to name a few. These taxes are added to the prices of goods and services your company provides to consumers.
As a consumer, you pay not only your taxes, but the taxes of all the manufacturing companies that had a hand in producing the final products you are purchasing. These taxes are rolled into the price of the product and are passed on to you. Americans for Tax Reform calculated that these hidden taxes increase the cost of goods and services by 26% to 75%. (See Americans for Tax Reform.) For example, taxes take:
Hidden Costs of Taxes
26% of the cost of electricity
28% of the cost of a restaurant meal
31% of the cost of bread
38% of the cost of a pizza
40% of the cost of an airline ticket
46% of the cost of a firearm
54% of the cost of gasoline
Families pay both obvious taxes (35.4%) and hidden taxes (at least 26% of purchases). If 80% of "after tax" disposable income is spent, hidden taxes add about 20% to the family's tax burden, bring the total tax burden to over 55%.
http://home.flash.net/~bob001/taxes.htm
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