It's really all of this. The average tax rate for the middle quintile was about 14% in 2007, according to the CBO. But everyone in America believes they're middle class and pay very high taxes. Saying that 15% is substantially less than what middle America is flatly wrong but plays to most readers' prejudices.Grandpa's Spells wrote:I see, Pink was objecting because a middle American's effective tax rate may be lower than 15%.Grandpa's Spells wrote:Effective rate is different. If the guy said Romney's effective tax rate was 15%, he'd be wrong.johno wrote:http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/18/news/ec ... /index.htm
What is "effective tax rate," Alec?
It's also nonsensical to talk about the taxes paid by someone as filthy rich as Romney without talking about the incidence of corporate taxes. He owns big pieces of corporations. The top 1% only has an average rate of around 20% if you only count income and social security, but it's almost 30% when you count the incidence of corporate taxes.
It's fine if people want to argue that he's a mega-rich asshole and his taxes need to be higher, but the idea that someone like Romney (or Buffet) pays a lower percent of their income in taxes than middle America is a lie.
As for why Romney would even play into that lie, my guess is that he thought it would sound better than trying to explain that he own so much in stocks that the corporate taxes he (effectively) pays amounts to more money than most Americans will ever see.