in your country, do richer people pay a larger share of taxes?

[hanzj]

1)in your country, do richer people pay a larger share of taxes?

2) Around how much in percentage do rich and poor pay?

3) what country?

[fluffington]

1)in your country, do richer people pay a larger share of taxes?
Some do, most don't; the rich write the tax laws.


2) Around how much in percentage do rich and poor pay?
You'd first have to define rich and poor, as there is no clear divide between them, at least in the USA. As a business owner who's not afraid of paperwork (I'll be filling out 18 pages of tax forms for this year's taxes), it's possible to pay pretty close to zero in taxes. Last I checked, those that don't go through the extra paperwork and don't make a lot of money pay a little under 30% of their total earnings.


3) what country?
USA

[G Morgan]

In the UK currently you don't pay any tax on the first £4,000 you earn then pay 22% on the amount up to £40,000. The figure then gets higher again for the amount above £40,000 (40% I think).

Personally I'd like to see us switch to a system where you get an amount tax free then pay a flat rate on the rest.

A large amount of British tax is collected as VAT, in council tax and in stealth taxes as well. The complexity of our system is so great that billions are wasted every year just administrating the damn thing. Last year the government mistakenly gave out something like £2B extra in tax credits then wasted money suing people to give it back (generally more than the claim was for).

We also have a £40B pa hole in our pocket called the CAP but the EU have been so kind to give us £3B pa of that back so we're only wasting enough to end poverty in Europe now on making our food more expensive.

[slougi]

1) Yes

2) Here (http://www.worldwide-tax.com/finland/finland_tax.asp) is a good breakdown. Basically if considering only income:



Tax (%) Tax Base (EUR)
0 1 - 12,500
10.5% 12,501- 15,400
15% 15,401- 20,500
20.5% 20,501 - 32,100
26.5% 32,101- 56,900
33.5% 56,901 And Over


3) Finland

[hanzj]

As a business owner who's not afraid of paperwork it's possible to pay pretty close to zero in taxes.

Wow. So you're saying that self-employed people in the USA don't pay taxes?



Those that don't go through the extra paperwork and don't make a lot of money pay a little under 30% of their total earnings.

Those who don't do their own paperwork... I'd guess that they pay someone for their services and time. But I would not guess that it's about more taxes for those who don't do their own paperwork.

[Terracotta]

1) yes
2) going from 2.5% for under 6000euro a year to 55% that's the limit.
3) Belgium

[fluffington]

Wow. So you're saying that self-employed people in the USA don't pay taxes?
Not quite. Self-employed people who don't do anything inventory related (i.e., services only), don't have any employees, and don't mind spending a few hours a day buried in paperwork pay significantly less than everybody else. This is zero for me because I currently make less than $20k a year. Once that figure goes up, my taxes will too, but I don't expect it to ever be half as high as what the majority of people pay.

[pelle.k]

1. sort of

2.Around 33% of the income for the average Joe Worker, and up to 60% of some companies income. So it is the companies who take the blow.
it's not really relative to what you get payed. If you own more than like 150'000 euros (300'000 in one household) you pay 1.5% of that (from 150'000 and up) in taxes.

You've got to take in account what the taxes really get you. As an example, every swedish citizen pay 10 euros for a visit to the hospital. Be it a broken toe, or really, really expensive brain surgery...
It's really hard to say who is most beneficial in the end. You or me?
Either way, i'm not complaining even though Sweden has got pretty high taxes.
I'm all good.

3. Sweden.

[RAV TUX]

1)in your country, do richer people pay a larger share of taxes?

2) Around how much in percentage do rich and poor pay?

3) what country?

In the USA it actually varies state by state, even county, or city; but should be the same on the federal level. Except some states don't have a federal income tax.

[Tatey]

Looks like the Australians pay some of the highest tax in the world.

$0 – $6,000: Nil
$6,001 – $25,000: 15c for each $1 over $6,000
$25,001 – $75,000: $2,850 plus 30c for each $1 over $25,000
$75,001 – $150,000: $17,850 plus 40c for each $1 over $75,000
Over $150,000: $47,850 plus 45c for each $1 over $150,000

This is after the Government introduced tax-cuts for this financial year. There are methods for reducing the amount of tax you pay, and tax evasion altogether, usually such methods are adopted by the "rich". Though, they're pretty tough on cracking down tax evaders. In addition, unless you have private health care cover, you must pay a 1.5% medicare levy (public health) in addition to the tax you already pay.

[Dr. Nick]

Not sure how other countires are , But as alluded to earlier, the US varies.

I am not a homeowner, so I dont have property taxes to consider yet, But Texas is one of the states without a state income tax. When I do taxes I fill out about 2 forms for the federal govt. Since I work part time I pay about 12%, bit get alot of the federal tax back. Atleast for me I pay 3 taxes per paycheck.

Federal Tax
Medicare
Social Security

I get a check that covers the majority of the first 2, but thier isnt much to do about SS

I would be considered below poverty If I was self-sufficient, but as a full time student I still have family to support me partially.

Also in the USA it varies a bit depending on occupation. Most occupations are the same, but teachers and railroad workers can have thier own retirement plans, so they dont pay into social security like most people.

You also have state and city sales taxes you could figure in if you wanted, those vary alot here in America, my area has a sales tax of about 8.25% on the dollar

If we dont talk about income taxes only then it could get really confusing, lol

[jeremy]

Here they pay people a bit, to vaoid paying a lot!

[jeremy]

Here they mostly pay lawyers and accounts quite a bit, to avoid paying a lot!

[kadymae]

In the USA it actually varies state by state, even county, or city; but should be the same on the federal level. Except some states don't have a federal income tax.

I think you mean State income tax, not federal. Federal income tax applies in the entire US and posessions.

Nevada (where I live) has no State Income Tax. (We do, however, have a sales tax of 7.5%, to which counties can tack on extra. In Clark County it's 7.75%.)

[OffHand]

1) We got 3 or 4 tax scales going from 35% for the lowest incomes to 60% (or 55%) for the people who are really rich.
2) The Netherlands

[siacs]

Taxation Statistics by country

http://www.nationmaster.com/cat/tax-taxation

[[h2o]]

Looks like the Australians pay some of the highest tax in the world.
Tss, you are only nr 15 if you look at tax % of GDP. I was not surprised to find Sweden in the top. :rolleyes:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tax_tot_tax_as_of_gdp-taxation-total-as-of-gdp

[ember]

And the wonderful thing is that it even get's worse when you are a standard worker. With social insurance, pension insurance and some other goodies, you can get up to 53% of you income, at least here in Germany :)
Have a look here (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tax_tot_tax_wed_sin_wor-total-tax-wedge-single-worker)

Well - actually I would not even blame our government for taking half of my income as taxes. It's just the way the tax burdon is distributed among society and they way they spend it, that bothers me.
At the moment our policy seems to be "take it from the poor and give it to the rich". Looks like it's time for another Robin Hood.

[Somenoob]

1) No

2) 20-30% somewhere between there, I'm to lazy to look it up.

3) Norway

[seshomaru samma]

In China I don't think statistics are available
Every province is different , In Shanghai (which is a city but has the power of a province) poor people do not pay tax , Ithink it's the middle class that pays most of the tax. In other provinces ,sometimes poor people are forced to pay tax by currupt officials, but according to the law ,they shouldn't.
Rich people must pay tax of course but sometimes they don't because they have powerful connections.