Top Ten Tax Charts

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Australia has even lower tax rates, and yet they will have a surplus in 2015-16.

Doesn't look like lower tax rates to me. Top marginal tax rate is 45%.

Taxable income Tax on this income Effective tax rate

0 – $6,000.................................................................. Nil 0%

$6,001 – $37,000 ....15c for each $1 over $6,000 ................................0 – 12.6%

$37,001 – $80,000 ...$4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000................ 12.6 – 21.9%

$80,001 – $180,000 ..$17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000............... 21.9 – 30.3%

$180,001 and over ...$54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000.............. 30.3 – 45%

Capital gains are taxed at marginal income tax rates, states levy a payroll tax of 4.75% - 6.85% and then there is a 10% VAT.

It's how balanced budgets are done in the modern world.

[mawilson 2,133]

Doesn't look like lower tax rates to me. Top marginal tax rate is 45%.

Then LI's chart is wrong.

I'm just kidding, of course. Everything's better in Australia.

[dalegg 143]

Does Australia have a separate FICA or Social Security deduction?

[slim 1,530]

Competition is a fundamental part of a free market. We are in competition with other countries in the context of a global economy. There are American cars being marketed outside the U.S. just as there are foreign imports marketed here. The overall health of the economy including the quality of life index as it compares to the rest of the world is significant.

Yet it has nothing to do with taxes.

Do we not set the standard when it comes to quality of life and economy? You can tell me all day some country somewhere in the world has better tax rates, higher quality of life and zero unemployment and I'll remind you how many people they have. As a whole, the US is the best country in the world and that has very, very little to do with our taxes.

To compare us to anywhere else is apples to oranges.