United States Tax Policy Essay

In the United States, the top one percent received about 20 percent of the overall income for 2016. This creates an uneven distribution of income causing Americans to argue about whether or not the wealthy should pay more in federal income taxes. One side of the argument is that the wealthy make a huge portion of the nation’s income; therefore, they should have higher tax rates. The other side argues that wealthy Americans already pay their fair share of taxes by paying nearly 40 percent and should not be forced to pay more. These arguments both use compelling evidence to make their claims; however, a solution could be reached by increasing the tax rate of the top one percent by only 10 to 20 percent.

The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people in the U.S. pay a total of over 40 percent of all federal income taxes, which is more than the entire bottom 95 percent of all tax payers. Government programs are funded through Social Insurance Taxes that are the fastest growing source of federal income though it’s actually counted separately in special trust funds by the Treasury. Both federal and state governments combine these taxes that are used to pay for social programs such as social security, Medicare, and unemployment services. This type of taxation is a regressive tax, since lower income people end up paying more from their income than those with a higher income. Another federal tax is the excise tax, better considered a luxury tax for non-necessities, which include things like liquor, cigarettes, gas, and highways. Taxes that are imposed on imported goods so that there’s less foreign competition on the domestic market are called customs duties.

(Black, 565-483) This means that every working family still pays taxes, however their taxes would be cut, meaning they would be paying less taxes than before. As for the “ millionaires” and higher class of society they will still pay the same taxes as they did before. This policy is more likely to be considered as equal because it is not rated fair when people from different social classes with a big difference in their incomes pay the same taxes. Especially because the taxes will eventually be lowered for the lower classes because they would be unable to afford paying the regular and high taxes. This will also lead in the cut of taxes for the high social class, which then makes the whole concept unequal. Not just for the people but also for the national economy (Witcover, 791-545).

The tax policy in the United States is very confusing. When the tax policy was originally written in 1913 it was four hundred pages. Now, over the past ninety one years, that tax policy has evolved to over 72,000 pages. Since the tax code has become so lengthy and nearly impossible to understand, the topic of tax reform has been in the minds of many. Although, most barely think about tax reform until tax season. It is a controversial subject due to the impact a change in tax code would have on the American people. The two most popular and widely known stakeholders in this debate are the two major political parties in the United States, the Democrats and the Republicans. The two parties share absolutely no common ground on the subject of

Within the United States, there is an unequal collection and distribution of resources. The current unequal or socially unjust tax system is a direct contrast to the social justice theories of John Rawls. The taxation discrepancy has ramifications on many important aspects of our society, such as health care, employment, old age security, and education. These issues affect everyone in our society, regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. Thorough more equal taxation, we have the potential to create a more society as a whole.

The view on the current government tax policy is considered “bloated, complex, and antiquated system” that overburdens United States taxpayers. Back in 1996, a proposal was brought by Republicans to Congress which was then passed, but sent to Clinton who later vetoed

BBC: For the longest, Republicans have said the U.S. tax system is in need of repairing and Trump is the one taking the stand on it. He’s called for significant tax cuts which

There are three different types of tax systems presented in this article: Progressive income tax, Flat tax, and the Fair Tax. The progressive tax system is what we have in the US and is common in countries across the world. It bases the percentage of income tax you should pay by the amount of income you receive. Basically, if you have a large income then the rate of tax you will pay is larger and, furthermore, if you have a low income you will have a lower rate to pay. Many conservatives dislike this system because it forces the top percentage of taxpayers to pay a majority of the tax revenue. “According to the Tax Foundation, the top 1% of taxpayers have consistently paid more in federal income taxes than the bottom 90% since 2003…” It treats people differently and it allows for

The tax program affects all Americans. It also affect Americans, because the debt that America is in will go up. Some may think that right now the tax plan is good for them, but in the long run it is

As said on npr.org by Danielle Kurtzleben “Donald Trump’s tax plan is indeed a large tax cut, but those cuts would largely benefit the highest earners. According to a recent analysis from the right-leaning Tax Foundation, the top 1 percent could see their after-tax incomes increase by up to 16 percent. Meanwhile, the bottom four quintiles would see their incomes grow by 1.9 percent or less.” Donald Trump is focused on making the rich richer and the middle class less fortunate than they already

Our current income tax system today is very complex, unfair, inhibits saving, investment and job creation, imposes a heavy burden on families, and weakens the integrity of the democratic process. It can't be fixed and must be replaced. The U.S. income tax code is a long and complex system. The income tax system is so complex; the IRS publishes 480 tax forms and 280 forms to explain the 480 forms. The IRS sends out eight billion pages of forms and instructions each year. The administrative costs of the tax system far exceed those borne directly by the IRS. Each year Americans devote 5.4 billion hours complying with the tax code, which is more time than it takes to build every car, truck, and van produced in the U.S.

“If we reform the tax code in the right way,...we can grow our economy while encouraging work, saving, investment, and stronger families” (Lichtenberg). Rubio’s tax plan is to lower them and even remove categories (Ollenstein). Marco Rubio’s business tax plan will provide a “25 percent non-refundable tax credit to any business offering between four and twelve weeks of paid family leave” (Lichtenberg). Rubio’s tax plan provides a tax relief for all businesses by “slashing corporate taxes from 35 to 25 percent” (Ollenstein). For family and household taxes Marco Rubio would cut taxes, letting taxpayers keep more of their own money instead of sending it to Washington. Replace the standard deduction with personal tax credit. Eliminate the Marriage Penalty and the Alternative Minimum Tax (Lichtenberg). It provides tax relief to the middle-class parents and families by adding a “refundable Child Tax Credit of up to $2,500 per child”

One proposal for the lowering of taxes in the United States is Herman Cain’s 999 Plan. Herman Cain is a republican politician running for president in the year 2012. The 999 Plan is a tax reform plan that would change personal income tax, national sales tax, and corporate sales tax all to nine percent. (Astor) The argument for the plan is that it would strengthen the economy and create jobs because it would lower taxes by 26 percent on businesses, therefore giving them incentive to start hiring, therefore creating new jobs for Americans. Currently the United States Unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent. Also corporations would be more willing to bring their profits home due to the lower

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.

When it comes to income taxes, the focus is usually on jobs, personal investments, and savings. The debate on who should bear the greater burden when it comes to income taxes is timeless. If all types of tax are aimed at developing the economy, it should be everyone’s equal responsibility to engage in taxation regardless of one’s economic class. Both parties involved proclaim the legitimacy of their arguments. The articles under discussion are representative of this debate. On one side of the debate, there are those who feel that the rich should pay more taxes. Then there are those who feel that the rich should not be punished by shouldering the burden of taxation (Benson and White 1). From an economic theorist’s point of view, both articles articulate valid arguments. However, this does not nullify the significance of the prevailing economic situation. The above debate can be based on various economic contexts.