News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth and Income Database. Parent comment

Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by mancerayder on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @02:42PM (#15656175)
What you said, while true, is one-sided. It omits that companies like Apple are the beneficiaries of large tax breaks that ipso facto function as subsidies (because Apple is the beneficiary of tax spending in innumerable ways). It also looks at different taxation rates for individuals as well, with a capital gain tax that's far lower than ordinary income tax rates, as one example.

So "as a society" applies here, in the loose sense of government decision-making.

There's no market in the abstract - there are courts, tax laws, civil laws, and many other things that mediate.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by tuna-piano on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @02:58PM (#15656364)
I would ask, what courts, tax laws, civil laws, etc are you referring to? Of course they impact the outcome, but which of those do you think is unfair or antithetical to my point about the free market?

I think the tax thing is a huge misconception that just isn't backed up by reality. The US still has a progressive tax system, even after taking into account the many rules (or the mysterious and nefarious "tax breaks" that everyone alludes to).

The top 1% have around 20% of the income, but pay 40% of the federal income taxes!

Real federal income tax rate paid:

Top 1% - 27%

Top 5% - 23%

Top 10% - 21%

Top 25% - 18%

Top 50% - 16%

Bottom 50% - 3.45%

https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by boomboomsubban on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @03:40PM (#15656752)
The federal income tax is a small part of the annual taxes paid in the US, you aren't showing enough information to provide more than a guess about how fairly the tax system is working.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by refurb on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @06:36PM (#15658238)
Look up the total federal tax rate, it's available. It's not skewed as much as just federal income tax, but it's still significantly skewed.

The top 5% pay 53% of all federal taxes including social security and Medicaid.[1]

[1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15573269

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by boomboomsubban on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @08:57PM (#15659131)
Federal tax is still a small chunk of the taxes paid in America, it's still guesswork and the "tax breaks" are even more prevalent there.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by Retric on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @03:31PM (#15656663)
Top 1% pays ~15% of total federal income taxes. Your numbers ignore Social security which provides ~34% of total federal revenue and cap at 120k vs a minimum 465k to make it into the top 1%. It's also clearly income tax while 'income taxes' provide ~47% of the federal revenue.

PS: Social Security pays money for blind people who have never worked, it's in no way a just a 'retirement' fund and is simply general welfare under a new name.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by dmuch on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @03:27PM (#15656626)
Well duh,the top 1% have more that 27% of the wealth...
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by keketi on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @04:19PM (#15657159)
Income taxes are paid on... income.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Explore Wealth and Income Inequality in the World Wealth ... by Chinjut on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @04:22PM (#15657189)
Income's value is… diminishing with existing wealth. Receiving 20% of the income and having an amazingly outsized 40% of the wealth is more than enough reason to consider seeking funding from the 1% rather than their far poorer countrymates.
[ Parent | on HN ]