LG, this article is big hog wash, it says:
"The bottom 50 percent of taxpayers paid an effective income tax rate of just 4 percent." And that is plainly not true. I'll give you a specific example, I estimate that Gates pays a total of 18% tax rate. How come? He pays 20% on his sale of stocks in his MSFT, but only 10% on all his investments in companies that has assets under $50 MM (super capital gains). Since none of this income is "earned" income, he pays no social security and "medicare" on that and because of the "ceiling" on these payments they do not affect his tax rate.
However, Mr. Blow joe, who earns just $22,000 (and thus on that he pays only some $440 or 4%) also has to dish out 15,5% in social security (assume he is "independent and pays both parts himself), so his tax rate is really 20% and higher than most of those 1% that supposedly pay 29% of the tax burden.
The highest tax rate is on those that have a taxable income from earnings and just around the social security ceiling, these people pay a tax rate fo close to 50%, twice or three time the tax rate those guys that are going to end up in jail ever paid.
Zeev
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
