Tax Discrimination - It's that time again

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I owed again this year, so I filed yesterday.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Just tried to do mine last minute (wasn't in a rush since I am pretty dead-on every year) and realized I can't access my online W2 because my work password is expired and the only way to update it is on my work computer. So I have officially missed the deadline. Oh well.

 

[Danoff]

Total 2017 Budget: $4T
Total 2017 Tax revenue: 3.3T
Total Revenue from Income Tax: $1.6T (not including SS, corporate tax, etc.)
Percentage of Revenue from Income Tax: 48%
Total Income Tax Needed for Balanced Budget (assuming no change in spending or revenue allocation): $1.9T
Number of Adults in the US: ~252M
Number of Taxpayers in the US: ~141M

Tax Liability Per Adult: $7539 (Up from last year)
or
Tax Liability Per Taxpayer: $13,475 (Up from last year)

So, if you think retirees and homeless should pay their fair share of taxes, your number is $7539. If you paid less than that you're not pulling your weight. If you think retirees and homeless should not pay their fair share of taxes, your number is $13,475, if you paid less than that (by yourself, not jointly), you're not pulling your weight. If you're married the numbers are $15,078 and $26,950 jointly.

If you're single, you need to make approximately $50k per year before the government takes $7539 in federal taxes. If you're single, you need to make approximately $75k/year before the government taxes $13,475. Make less than that and your fair share is being covered by someone making more than you. More than that and you're probably covering others.

For married people, the numbers are twice that. So if you want to claim that you're paying your fair share you may need to be making approx $147k/year as a couple.


Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
http://calcnexus.com/federal-tax-calculator.php

Total 2022 Budget: $6.27T
Total 2022 Tax Revenue: $4.90T
Total Revenue from Income Tax: $2.6T
Percentage of Revenue from Income Tax: 53%
Total Income Tax Needed for Balanced Budget (assuming no change in spending or revenue allocation): $3.32T
Number of Adults in the US: ~258M
Number of Taxpayers in the US: ~148M

Tax Liability Per Adult: $12,868
or
Tax Liability Per Taxpayer (this may be per return): $22,432

This translates roughly to a income of 60k if you're looking at liability per adult and about $90k per taxpayer (or maybe per return). That means that if you think all adults should pay their fair share, you need to be making $60k (individually) before you're paying it. If you think only taxpayers should pay their fair share, your tax return needs to have $90k in income (roughly) before you're paying your fair share. If it's less than that, someone else is helping you out with your share of government overhead.

Sources:

Fiscal Data Explains Federal Spending

Check out @FiscalService Fiscal Data’s new federal spending page! #FederalSpending

fiscaldata.treasury.gov

Fiscal Data Explains Federal Revenue

Check out @FiscalService Fiscal Data’s new federal revenue page! #FederalRevenue

fiscaldata.treasury.gov

Government revenues by category U.S. 2023 | Statista

In 2023, the vast majority of U.S. revenues came from individual income taxes. Corporate income taxes were significantly lower.

www.statista.com

KIDS COUNT Data Center from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Explore the KIDS COUNT Data Center for free statistical data about economics, education and health sorted by race, sex and age in our national data center.

datacenter.kidscount.org

Government revenues by category U.S. 2023 | Statista

In 2023, the vast majority of U.S. revenues came from individual income taxes. Corporate income taxes were significantly lower.

www.statista.com

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Total personal income reported in 2017: ~$11T (based on eyeballing 2016 data)
Total income tax needed for balanced budget (assuming no change in spending or revenue allocation): $1.9T
Effective flat tax rate: 17.2%

Compared to the numbers I posted above, the flat tax rate would be $8636 (for $50k of earnings).

Sources:
I'm not sure which of these numbers to believe. I'm going for the worse of the two and adjusting it by the year-over-year adjustment of the one with later data.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/216756/us-personal-income/
https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2018-update/

I'm estimating total personal income reported in 2022 at: ~22T (assuming a similar change as previous years).
Total Income Tax Needed for Balanced Budget (assuming no change in spending or revenue allocation): $1.9T
Effective Flat Tax Rate: 8.6%

That is a huge change. It looks like my numbers for 2017 personal income reported were low. Ah, it's AGI vs. total personal income. Hmmmm... actually not sure how I want to go on that one.

Source:

U.S. personal income 2023 | Statista

This statistic shows the total personal income in the United States from 1990 to 2023.

www.statista.com