Ok, again. I have no idea whether the chart is bullshit or not but (i) you do NOT have to pay taxes to vote and (ii) there are a LOT of people who pay no taxes. Not just 18 year olds living at home. And paying sales tax is not a way to track voters. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/45-of-americans-pay-no-federal-income-tax-2016-02-24 45% of Americans pay no federal income tax Published: Apr 18, 2016 1:58 p.m. ET Many Americans don’t have to worry about giving Uncle Sam part of their hard-earned cash for their income taxes this year. An estimated 45.3% of American households — roughly 77.5 million — will pay no federal individual income tax, according to data for the 2015 tax year from the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington-based research group. (Note that this does not necessarily mean they won’t owe their states income tax.) Roughly half pay no federal income tax because they have no taxable income, and the other roughly half get enough tax breaks to erase their tax liability, explains Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. Despite the fact that rich people paying little in the way of income taxes makes plenty of headlines, this is the exception to the rule: The top 1% of taxpayers pay a higher effective income-tax rate than any other group (around 23%, according to a report released by the Tax Policy Center in 2014) — nearly seven times higher than those in the bottom 50%. Read: Compared to most countries, we’re undertaxed On average, those in the bottom 40% of the income spectrum end up getting money from the government. Meanwhile, the richest 20% of Americans, by far, pay the most in income taxes, forking over nearly 87% of all the income tax collected by Uncle Sam. Read: Compared to most countries, we’re undertaxed — honest Rich people pay nearly 87% of all federal individual income tax in America Income level Share of total federal individual income tax paid Average income tax bill per person Lowest 20% -2.2% -$643 Second lowest 20% -1.7% -$621 Middle income 4.2% $1,743 Second richest 20% 12.9% $6,285 Richest 20% 86.8% $50,176 Source: Tax Policy Center The top 1% of Americans, who have an average income of more than $2.1 million, pay 43.6% of all the federal individual income tax in the U.S.; the top 0.1% — just 115,000 households, whose average income is more than $9.4 million — pay more than 20% of it. When it comes to all federal taxes — individual income, payroll, excise, corporate income and estate taxes — the distributions of who pays what is more spread out. This is partially because nearly everyone pays excise taxes, which includes taxes on gasoline, alcohol and cigarettes. Rich people pay 69% of all federal taxes in America Income level Share of total federal taxes paid Lowest 20% 0.8% Second lowest 20% 3.4% Middle income 9.2% Second richest 20% 17.5% Richest 20% 69% Source: Tax Policy Center _
I'm not saying that paying taxes is a requirement of voting. I already said above, that citizenship is the requirement, unless of course you have committed certain federal crimes. I'm inquiring as to what the chart refers to with such a large portion of non tax payers. I doubt it's simply housewives and young adults being carried by their parents. I'm not saying your daughter is committing tax fraud. I'm saying she is your dependent for tax purposes. Does she live in a house where you pay property taxes? Do you pay sales tax when you buy things for her or she uses your money to buy things? Do you pay school tax or pay for her to go to a private school? If so then you are paying her taxes. You seem to think that "taxpayer" strictly means income tax. EDIT: I just saw your followup post with the 45% not paying federal taxes. Thanks for posting that. How does a household survive with no taxable income? The article says that half of the 45% have no taxable income. What kind of income are they getting? Pardon my ignorance on the topic. Are they talking about people on welfare? Folks that inherited a large amount of money? How does one pay state income tax but not federal? I'm not a tax expert, so I'm curious about these things. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm genuinely wondering. I guess we may never know since the OP abandoned thread with what seemed to be a copy paste photo shop job.
Welfare state, below the poverty line, losses, triple tax free income, trusts, there are a whole bunch of reasons nearly half the country pays no taxes. And again my daughter is not a taxpayer because she lives with me and I pay taxes. There is nothing imputed, in fact I get a tax credit for her. I pay property and school taxes on my property not because she goes to school in my town-whether I have zero children or 4 I still pay property and school taxes. If I sent her to a private school I am doing that willingly-I don't- but it's NOT a tax. Because I pay for her shoes and I pay sales tax she is NOT a taxpayer. Because I pay a tax on the gas I put in her car and she drives her car she is NOT a taxpayer-I am. I'm not sure you are understanding this. She is a citizen entitled to vote. Not because she pays taxes. Not because she lives with me and I pay taxes. If next year I quit my job and converted all of my holdings into triple tax free bonds and I had NO taxable income she could vote. And I could vote. _
But yes it appears the chart was bogus. However clearly there are a shit ton of non-tax payers that are voting. _
Damn, bro. Take it easy. I'm not attacking your daughter or questioning your manhood. I was only asking questions about the chart because I wasn't sure what they were referring to. You are head of household and she is your dependent right? Then there is no argument here since taxes are based on households, not just individuals. It's really semantics to say she is not a tax payer, but it seems to mean a lot to you so I'm just going to leave it alone.
Dude. You posted a chart that has no basis in reality and formatted a post around it like it was a fucking NYT editorial.
