Quote:
Originally posted by taxwonk
Admittedly, a portion of the tax paid at the lower brackets was paid by taxpayers whose marginal tax rate was in higher brackets. But, on a comparative basis, it demonstrates that it is at lower to middle income levels that the greatest share of tax is generated.
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Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, but it seems to be entirely misleading.
Everyone pays taxes at the lower brackets; only some people pay taxes at the higher brackets. So of course, those first few dollars of income are going to supply a good chunk of tax revenue. But that doesn't mean it's all coming from poor people; it's coming from everyone who actually earns money. And then the IRS goes back and takes even more from people earning even more.
Worse, the notes about the changes in 2001 undermine your argument-. If the reason the rich are paying less is because k-gains went down, then that has nothign to do with tax rate policy, and everything to do with how people are earning money, and how much.
