Re: Why I Pay Too Much in Taxes
At 1:17 PM 5/7/96, Clay Olbon II wrote:
At 5:34 PM 5/6/96, Timothy C. May wrote:
Also, the effect of inflation has been to inflate salaries and thus inflate people into higher tax brackets, even when their "real wages" have not gone up.
This used to be true. A bill passed during the Reagan administration indexed the brackets to inflation to remedy this situation. I don't know how succesful the bill was in eliminating "bracket creep", but that was the stated purpose.
No, it _still_ is true. One bill during one administration does not a major change make. Look at the actual rates, average salaries, increases, etc. (Sure, there have been all sorts of rate increases, decreases, changes, loopholes added, loopholes subtracted, etc. But the fact is that the average starting salary for an EE was about $12,000 a year in 1975 and more than 30,000 in 1995, with about the same buying power but with tax _rates_ dramatically higher.) --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
On Tue, 7 May 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
At 1:17 PM 5/7/96, Clay Olbon II wrote:
At 5:34 PM 5/6/96, Timothy C. May wrote:
Also, the effect of inflation has been to inflate salaries and thus inflate people into higher tax brackets, even when their "real wages" have not gone up.
This used to be true. A bill passed during the Reagan administration indexed the brackets to inflation to remedy this situation. I don't know how succesful the bill was in eliminating "bracket creep", but that was the stated purpose.
No, it _still_ is true. One bill during one administration does not a major change make.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I sent the text of the law to the list. The position that you take (that increse in inflation can send you into the next tax bracket) is incorrect.
Look at the actual rates, average salaries, increases, etc.
(Sure, there have been all sorts of rate increases, decreases, changes, loopholes added, loopholes subtracted, etc. But the fact is that the average starting salary for an EE was about $12,000 a year in 1975 and more than 30,000 in 1995, with about the same buying power but with tax _rates_ dramatically higher.)
The bill took effect in 1993. (1992?) Rates will not change with respect to inflation (to the extent that inflation is accurately measured by the CPI). I believe an exception was made for the top bracket in 1994, but I don't recall how it was implemented.
--Tim May
--- My preferred and soon to be permanent e-mail address:unicorn@schloss.li "In fact, had Bancroft not existed, potestas scientiae in usu est Franklin might have had to invent him." in nihilum nil posse reverti 00B9289C28DC0E55 E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information Opp. Counsel: For all your expert testimony needs: jimbell@pacifier.com
participants (2)
-
Black Unicorn -
tcmay＠got.net