Payroll taxes are both regressive, substantial and non-refundable: 7.65% on each of the employer and employee totaling 15.3%, which stops when you make too much money. This accounts for a further $6273 if you haven’t taken the employee amount into consideration (I didn’t see it in your breakdown) and $3136 if you did but neglected that this is paid on your behalf by your employer and you never see it. This alone zeros out the net credit you mentioned.

Then of course since we’re comparing the rest of the world to the US, you need to add a couple hundred dollars per person per month - easily $10K for a family per year - for health insurance that gives them a $5K out of pocket maximum per year they can’t afford so they don’t die of cancer (but can’t afford an early diagnosis) and can’t afford their insulin. All of which is included in the tax burden and covered in Europe and Canada and Australia and New Zealand and Taiwan, to name a few. This amounts to a regressive 25% tax if you’re comparing directly (as good health insurance costs rich and poor the same, but represents a disproportionately higher amount of take-home pay for the poor).

I never understood the “freeloader” narrative, payroll taxes easily cancel it all out.