Happy Tax Day 04/15/13

Posted on April 15, 2013 by yellojkt

Stiglitz points out that our progressive tax system is far less than progressive in implementation, particularly at the very high end.

The richest 400 individual taxpayers, with an average income of more than $200 million, pay less than 20 percent of their income in taxes — far lower than mere millionaires, who pay about 25 percent of their income in taxes, and about the same as those earning a mere $200,000 to $500,000. And in 2009, 116 of the top 400 earners — almost a third — paid less than 15 percent of their income in taxes.

At least or marginal rates aren’t 95% anymore:

But that always seemed to be more honored in the breach. There were a whole lot more loopholes available in the 1950s. Imagine if consumer debt interest were still deductible. Elimination of that created the home equity loan boom. Talk about the law of unintended consequences.

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