There is if you count state and local taxes. In California you can be paying 9.3% + 1.0%, and in other places (NYC) it can be even higher. At 39.6 + 9.3 + 1.0, you would be above most countries in the world.
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That's funny, because on my federal tax return there's an entry where you deduct your state income tax. Sales tax, of course, is entirely different from income tax.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch22.html#en_US_publink1...
Something being deductible on federal is nowhere near the same as a tax credit. You don't get a tax credit for state/local taxes. You get a deduction (which doesn't apply under AMT). So, if you're in the 25% bracket, you can deduct your 10% state taxes, which reduces it from 25+10% to 25+10-(0.25*10).
California's 9.3% is the top regular marginal income tax rate. There is also an 8-10% state/local sales tax. There is no way around the analysis that California and New York are relatively high tax states compared to Nevada and Washington.
I know this, and am not trying to claim that high taxes don't exist - I live in California myself, and think we need to trim costs to become more competitive. But I see no value in exaggerating the impact of taxes either.
Call me a pedant if you like, but I'm just tired of seeing economic debates where people begin with best/worst case arguments, eg throwing out numbers which don't take inflation into account or suchlike. I felt the message I replied could have acknowledged that one number does not tell the whole story.