JONATHAN CHAIT APRIL 14, 2010
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Jonathan Bernstein bemoans public ignorance about tax levels:
Half of American households don't pay income tax, and half of the American people believe that they, themselves, pay too much income tax.
I realize that households aren't quite the same as people, but either way one of two things is true: either virtually everyone who pays any federal income tax at all thinks that they pay too much, or a whole lot of people who pay zero income taxes believe they pay too much. A quick look at Gallup's crosstabs make it clear that the answer is the latter, since the "pay too much" answer turns out not to vary much by income. That's right -- 44% of those who make $20K a year or less believe they pay too much in federal income tax, and 41% of those who make between $20K and $30K believe they pay too much in federal income tax. The vast majority of those people do not pay a single penny in federal income taxes.
I mean, forget about asking people what they know about government and public affairs. If they don't know that they, themselves, don't pay any income tax...you know, I don't even know how to complete that sentence.
While I bow to nobody in my low estimation of public knowledge, I think there's actually a less depressing interpretation here. Most people make no distinction between "income tax" and taxes, period. That's why conservatives constantly harp on how much "income tax" is paid by the rich. They know full well that the vast majority of the audience will read "income tax" as "tax." Indeed, conservative elites themselves often fall for their own rhetorical trick, getting a piece of information about "income taxes" and then restating it as "taxes."
6 comments
For most people, income tax, Social Security, and Medicare tax are all deducted from their paychecks. It's not immediately obvious which is which. Perhaps that's one source of the confusion.
- kwilson800
April 14, 2010 at 5:53pm
It's a dumb question, no one I know ever thinks they pay too little in tax. Also, most people probably conceive of payroll taxes as income taxes, because they are frankly a tax on their income. Taking all taxes into account, including local sales and property, income and payroll, and imputed tarriffs, the American tax code is only slightly progressive at best. We all end paying about the same share of our income to the government on average. The real question is whether taxes in the US should be made more progressive, and whether the structural deficit can be closed only on the backs of the wealthy.
- nayyer_ali
April 14, 2010 at 6:49pm
I side with the folks who claim they pay too much in taxes and I don't think they need an Interpreter. Including my low interest loan to the government to fund operations until they re-pay a small potion known as Social Security, I paid somewhere between $ 45,000 - $ $ 50,000 this year to various Federal and State Government Agencies. Cell Phone Bills alone were $ 300. I have no idea what I paid in Liquor Taxes, but it was worth every penny. I am pretty sure Mr. Chait paid somewhere close to $ 50,000 this year in Federal, State, SSI, Mdeicare, Property Taxex, Sales Taxes, Gas Taxes and various taxes on regulated industires. If he thinks that is not a lot of money, or that it is not too much, I think he is going soft in the head and would like to ask his father if that is a lot of money. Anyone with respect for money knows that the government at all levels is taking far to much for few too poor services.
- CRS9TNR
April 14, 2010 at 9:01pm
50k year is a lot if you make 100k a year. If you make 1M a year, it's not much. Want to see taxes go down? Then lobby your congresscritters to eliminate subsidies for all business (farm price supports is a good start), tax corporations at the rates they were in the 1950s/60s (which were pretty damned good times for the US economy, businesses and workers), slash the defense budget, get us 100% out of the Middle East along with closing all overseas military bases, and eliminate Social Security and Medicare along all VA benefits for non-injured vets. That's where about 70-75% of the money goes (check the pie charts in your 1040 instruction booklet). Taxes will then plummet. Good luck with that.
- tnmats
April 14, 2010 at 10:41pm
"Anyone with respect for money knows that the government at all levels is taking far to much for few too poor services." The US carries the biggest defense burden on the planet. Fighting two wars doesn't help. Put the US on on the same footing as the EU, Canada or Japan in that area alone would eliminate most of our deficits overnight. We had a window to also fix another big burden, medical care, but blew a big chance to make a large reduction in costs for all. At least we got a good first crack at it for the first time in history. We spend 2x what the rest of the globe does so there was another huge amount to be saved in taxes. But, if you're on Medicare or Social Security though, you're getting a good deal right now. If you're a Vet you get some good deals too. I'd bet your father says that. Mine sure does as he's a vet and on SS/Medicare. Mom does too and so do my in-laws.
- tnmats
April 14, 2010 at 10:48pm
What does "respect for money" mean, anyway? I just paid the federal government $1600 over and above the tax dollars already taken out of my paycheck. And you know what? I think my taxes should be higher. Improvements can (and should) be made in government services, but that has no effect on the here-and-now reality that a generation of Republicans campaigning on tax cuts has left us with a monstrous deficit, aging infrastructure, and not nearly enough help to the average citizen. The interstate highways near me need to be paved better. In the richest, most advanced country on Earth, there shouldn't be any bridges in danger of collapsing from regular use. And Pell Grants shouldn't be staying flat, they should be being vastly increased. (For that matter, I think that college should be essentially free, but that's another topic.) We get the government we pay for, and for decades now, we've been paying less and getting less. Maybe, just maybe, paying even less isn't the way to fix it.
- janus
April 15, 2010 at 11:32am