To those of you who don't accept Hauser's graph. I agree that you can not perfectly correlate top marginal tax rates with total taxes collected. The complexity of our tax code would not allow for that type of a clear correlation. But, I think there is something to be gained and that is that the top marginal tax rate is not correlated to total taxes collected. Kinda circular, isn't it. Well some believe that if you raise marginal tax rates on the rich, total taxes collected increase. This is clearly false. Hauser's graph shows that. So as Democrats obsess over top marginal rates, you folks know better, Right?
Second, the point of my OP is that you can not "soak" the rich through income tax policy. No one has responded to that yet, in fact many of you have turned tail and have run as far as you can from responding to that point. No one has addressed the issue that a guy like Warren Buffet can accumulate an additional $10 billion in wealth and pay no additional taxes on it. Buffet is not the only one who does it, check in with the Kennedy's, Kerry, Gore, Pelosi, etc., etc., etc. Rich people manage their income tax burden, social security taxes cap and Medicare taxes are an accepted cost but also managed.
Let me ask a question, especially for those outraged by CEO salaries.
Let's say we have CEO - A who is paid a $4,000,000 per year salary with the same benefits package as all of his employees. He/she pays income tax on $4,000,000 income and pays for what he/she consumes with after tax dollars.
Let's say we have CEO - B who is paid $250,000 per year salary, gets the rights to stock options, deferred compensation and other perks, net values of $4,000,000. He/she consumes mostly with pre-tax or non-taxed dollars.
Which is better for the government from a tax collection point of view? Don't you actually want CEO taxable income to be high or at least an accurate reflection of their total compensation in current dollars?
Here is something on the subject easy to digest. Keep in mind the average Joe's compensation is pretty simple, W2 income where taxes are taken out before Joe gets his portion. CEO's and their companies spend, who knows how much in money, time and other resources to come up with compensation packages that are tax efficient.
Quote:
In 2006, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs whose official executive salary form Apple was $1, earned approximately $646 million dollars in compensation from Apple. Whereas, Forbes 2nd richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, with an estimated net worth of over 40 billion dollars, earned $100,000 as an executive salary. How are these figures determined and what does executive compensation consist of is a common question. Generally speaking, executive compensation is the keyword for how top executives of business corporations are paid.
Compensation System
Generally speaking, the compensation and salaries of every executive employee are decided by the company owners through the board of directors and the management team.
Means of Compensation
In executive compensation, there are five basic tools used to compensate and reward executives in various United States Organizations. These five basic tools include: (1) base salary, (2) short-term incentives, (3) long-term incentives (generally referred as (LTIP)), (4) employee benefits and (5) perquisites (perks). In most typical modern United States corporations, the CEO and other high level executives are paid a considerable salary plus short-term bonuses and incentives. Total Cash Compensation (TCC) is the term generally used to refer to the total compensation package.
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http://www.marvquin.com/blog/ceo-sal...sation-defined
Again, I am beginning to think the value of the information shared is being lost on some of you. For me this exercise was valuable because I think I have a better understanding of Warren Buffet. I think he uses the rules to his maximum advantage, doesn't try to change public perception, actually goes along with public perception, while he smiles all the way to the bank. Goodness, the man is brilliant.
Go ahead raise the top marginal income tax rate to 100% if you want.