Marginal tax ratesReader comment on: Paul Krugman Wants To Double Your Taxes Submitted by benjamin (United States), Apr 26, 2011 23:14 These are marginal rates. A couple with combined earning of 1 million would pay none of that at 45%. The 1,000,001st dollar will be taxed at 45%. This post is very misleading. Unless one is far over a billion dollars, a hedge fund manager living in Manhattan will pay less than 70% of his income to the government. Of course, taking home 300 million a year isn't such a rough gig, in fact I would guess many americans would happily pay 70%, or even 95% of their income to the government if it meant taking home 300 or 50 million dollars! And it makes no sense to me that we would tax investment income at a lower rate than income from a job. Don't we want to reward hard work in this country, not those who inherited a bunch of stock and sit on it as it appreciates? Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing. The Future of Capitalism replies: The alternative to investing the money is spending it. Don't we want to reward saving in this country rather than profligacy? Not all capital gains or dividend income comes from inheriting stock or sitting on it. This is the main way that Warren Buffett's fortune, the Google guys, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and other hardworking value-creators amassed their wealth — through capital gains on their own companies rather than wages. Submit a comment on this article Other reader comments on this item
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