A progressive tax is a tax in which the rate of the tax increases when the taxable amount increases. Progressive taxation is the process in which the tax rates increases form low to high according to the income of the people. United States currently has this type of taxation method. Progressive taxation helps in the income inequality, maintains social justice and furthermore adds more revenue to the government. Tax plays an important role any country. There is no country which can run without the tax. Money that is raised by the taxation is used by government to do the day to day work of the country. The military, social service, officer and the other governmental works run with the help of collected revenue from tax. The developmental works also run with the help of tax. Without taxation, the government cannot run its day to day work. Yes, we should worry about taxes that have a regressive effect on the taxpayer. Regressive tax increases the burden on the on the poor people and reduces the burden of the high class people. There is an unequal distribution of income in the American society. The differences in the income of the class of the people is increasing. And the market alone cannot determine the income distribution in the society. There is a large gap between the class of the people due to the unequal distribution of the income and wealth. The gap between the rich and poor will increase and more people will come under the line of poverty if there was no attempt of
The arguments regarding federal progressive income tax has been represented to us through the United States Supreme Court, on the floors of congress, and in media. The revenue from taxes reached the objective of financing wars from the Civil War through World War II. At the same time deteriorating the economy with fewer dollars that could be used on imports, exports, and services (Henchman). Today, the United States deficit is $18,800,241,350,538.12 this is a grand total of 58,405.32 owed by every man, woman, and child (Brown). The legal illusion is presenting the question, is income tax legal? There are Americans today who believe income tax is not legal and stand by their beliefs in a movement that has cost many individuals considerably. I am interviewing such a person, his name is Bobby Ray and the history he presented to me was interesting, and has left me with more questions than answers.
From 1938-1969, in America was in a period called the great compression, a time where the difference between the richest and poorest Americans was very small and economic growth was explosive. Due to past and current economic policies and events, income inequality has exploded in America, which is why in 2015 America had the highest level of wealth inequality in the world at 80.56 gini[1] . In the future this inequality will slow down economic growth, increase debt for middle income Americans, make America less democratic, and reduce economic mobility. This problem, however, does have solutions and this paper will lay out some of the solutions and the effect they will have on the economy, but first I will explain the history of income inequality in the US.
In a research of Harvard professor 5000 people in America have opinion in how they think about the actual distribution of wealth in the U.S. and the 92 percent choose the ideal would be 20 percent and 20 percent the middle class. However, the reality is very far from it. “The poorest are not even registered, they are on the package change and the middle class is barely distinguished from the poor, even the rich between the 10 % and 20 % are worst off, only the top 10 % are better off. Only the one percent gets ten time higher and 40 % all the nation wealth. The bottom 80 % 8 out 10 people only has 7 % between them.1 % makes a quarter of the national income today”(you tube, 2015). All of this data reflex one of the truly perspectives in economy of the U.S. Not only people with low wages are the most affected, but also those who have good jobs and
Americans today live in a distinctly unequal society. Inequality is now wider than it used to be in the last century, and the division in income, wages, and wealth are broader than they are in other developed economies of the world. Wealth inequality is the imbalance of wealth or income within a society, and it is one of the most vital economic challenge the US is facing today because the distribution of wealth is more dispersed, making the inequality in wealth distribution at its highest. While the matter has been discussed for many years, the actual income disparity in the U.S. has heightened and is now verging on an extreme gap that portends to impede long-term economic growth. The huge gap between the wealthy and poor is squeezing the U.S. economy, the wealth gap threatens economic growth by diminishing social mobility and producing a less-educated workforce who are not able to compete in the global economy. unrestrained level of income inequality causes political pressures, it discourages trade, investment, and hiring. The present level of income inequality in the U.S. is shrinking GDP growth, and the world's largest economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession.
Income Inequality is a major problem that has been going on in America for decades. Many people feel that it barely exists today, but those people are very uneducated and don’t really care about the huge problem in front of them the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about which has been gradually increasing instead of decreasing. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: Upper Class, Upper Middle Class, Middle Class, Working Class, Poor. The highest percentage of Americans fall in the Poor department, and it has been that way for decades, and will continue to be that way for decades to come.
One theory about the use of the progressive taxation is that people or businesses who earn the same or a similar amount of money should be taxed in the same or a similar way. A good example of that theory states that two individuals making $75,000 per year should be taxed the same amount, regardless of how they earned their income. While most countries have some form of progressive taxation, it is usually combined with other taxes, such as a sales tax, and few countries treat all income as exactly the same. This kind of taxation is still in effect today, bigger corporations are taxed more than the smaller mom and pop businesses.
Tax revenue is the source of funding for public education. Taxes can be progressive or regressive, depending on its impact on the taxpayer. A progressive tax is one in which the tax rate increases as income does. The federal income tax structure is an example of a progressive tax. A Regressive tax is one in which the tax rate is uniform and therefore, the regressive tax takes a larger percentage of available funds from lower-income individuals than from higher-income individuals. Sales tax is an example of a regressive tax.
Income inequality is a controversial topic discussed throughout the world. Many feel strongly that income inequality can hinder Americans or benefit them. Although some believe that income inequality helps Americans, it truly hinders them. Throughout the course of 30 years people have been unsatisfied with their income (Pettinger, 2011). Just about everything that is the result of income inequality can be thought of as a hindrance. Regarding Americans and their money, many various disadvantages can be directly related to income inequality.
A tax in which an equal percent is taken from every individual’s income still provides a situation where people, regardless of personal wealth, give a reasonable portion of their earnings. However, it still rewards those who work to become successful and gives ambition for others to do the same. These successful people then go on to expand their enterprises, creating more jobs and economic prosperity for the province. This balance provides the less fortunate an opportunity to receive assistance, but more importantly, provides them with the ability to work and become successful rather than remain on welfare. I do not support the decision to replace the flat tax with progressive tax, because I believe that it will result in economic decline as well as reduce the ambition for individuals to gain personal
Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The
In a progressive tax system, you pay a higher percentage rate as your income/wealth increases. As your income/wealth increases, so to does the percentage you must pay. A regressive system is the reverse, with individuals of lower income/wealth paying a higher percentage rate than those with higher income/wealth. There is an inverse relationship between percentage rate and income/wealth. As one decreases, the other increases.
The United States economy, as known by all, is not in its best shape. One way in which the government gains money is by imposing taxes on people. There are many taxes that are placed on different things that everyone needs or already has. The United States uses a taxation system which is criticized by many. The system used in Progressive Tax; however, many people believe the system of Flat Tax, or Proportional Tax, should be the system that is used for taxing.
A major social problem in America today is its inequality of the distribution of income. "Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor. The United States has the most unequal income distribution in the industrialized world, and it is growing at a faster rate than any other industrialized country" (Eitzen & Leedham, pg. 37). The main reason as to why income is distributed so unequally is because of the gap between social classes.
In addition to economic issues, taxation is also a political issue. Political leaders formulate tax policies to bring reforms in the taxation system in order to promote their agendas. The major tax reforms include: increasing or decreasing the tax rate, imposing new taxes on certain products and changing the definition of taxable income. It is evident from the research studies that no one deliberately wants to pay taxes. U.S’ tax policy reflects expression of influence - i.e., those who have power are successful in paying low taxes and their burden is shifted to people who have no power. Therefore retired individuals, small business owners and farmers find ways efforts to reduce their tax burden. Since its existence, tax policy has been enormously used for promoting political and economic agendas.
The Federal Government relies predominately on the individual income tax, and federal income tax makes up more than 50 percent of the federal government’s revenue. Income taxes are paid by all those who earn income (Mikesell, 2011). It is essentially a bill from the federal and state governments for individual earnings through salaries and investment profits. Income tax is considered a progressive tax because the individual's financial obligation rises with the level of reportable income (Mikesell, 2011). Although income tax is the one of the most effective ways of raising revenue for the government, it is also one of the most controversial.