Tax Rates Wouldn’t Be Such A Big Deal If People Actually Understood The Tax Code

I’m having an interesting online conversation in response to a YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsa4uLmTw0M&lcor=1&lc=3OOQtti0eix24lBV9PulW3gvqPxFr7QVvRwepXiZ2TI&lch=email_reply&feature=em-comment_reply_received

The comment that caught my eye (and has since been removed) was “I pay 25% and I think people making $250,000 should do the same”. And the conversation went downhill from there…

Me: I’d love to pay the same 25% tax rate you pay. Unfortunately, my rate is 33%. If Obama gets elected and has his way, we’ll be paying 39% or more. Please tell me which part of the progressive tax code you don’t understand. I’d love to have an opportunity to explain it to you.

Them: Oops my apologies I did the math wrong on my paycheck. 36% is what I pay. My apologies for my bad figure. So your progressive tax theory has a hole in it!

I’m completely speechless… but the whole “I make less money and pay more taxes” argument is starting to make a lot more sense.

Do yourself a favor. Teach yourself something about the tax code before you start spewing nonsense. For this year’s rules, you can start with Forbes.