Yep, you're absolutely right, I did double-count the double-tax. Your comment had me re-run the numbers, and this is what I came up with. You are correct that Social Security goes down to $0.

Medicare contributions have no cap, and are 1.45% by both the employer and employee and the 0.9% Obamacare surcharges on the employee only portion (until 2035) kicks in over $250,000 also. Therefore, social insurance contributes a marginal 3.79%

So, the numbers to the best of my knowledge should have been:

13.3% of all income (State) +

39.6% of all income (Federal, including the Donny double-tax) +

2.34% of all income (Medicare, Obamacare - Employee Contributions) +

1.45% of all income (Medicare - Employer Contributions)

=====

56.69%

Then you still have to deal with the fixed portions, the $19,616 [1] in healthcare premiums, the $7,347 you'd have paid in social security tax and the $7,347 your employer would have paid in social security tax. [2]

[1] https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/2018-employer-health...

[2] https://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/research-topics/managing-...

None of that is on all income; base Medicare is only on labor income, the Medicare surtax is on either (specifically, the lesser of) labor income or net investment income above certain thresholds, and the rest is on “normally taxed” income (but not, e.g., long-term capital gains, or gifts and inheritances—which, even when beyond the enormous exempt quantities, aren't taxed as normal income for the recipient, but to the giver or estate, and in California at a lower combined maximum state and federal rate than normal income tax, 40% federal and no state.)

And NSO stock options, which is likely very relevant to this audience.

> France can offer robust services while California cannot,

France offers much more social security than whole US.

Most of the US has much lower taxes than California.