How rich are you?

[Number Six]

Yes but consider that America is one of the least taxed countries in the world

The USA is far and away the most taxed country in the world. Just taking a rough guess, I'd say the US taxes its people more than the 100 lowest taxed countries combined. Or is the "sheer amount of money" criterion no longer in use in determining "most" like it was when you linked to the site to start this thread?

 

[Malachi151]

The USA is far and away the most taxed country in the world. Just taking a rough guess, I'd say the US taxes its people more than the 100 lowest taxed countries combined. Or is the "sheer amount of money" criterion no longer in use in determining "most" like it was when you linked to the site to start this thread?

Come again? LOL.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/8Comparison.htm

First, let's take a look at overall tax rates as a percentage of the GDP. (All statistics are for 1991. See the following footnote for a comment on sources.1) Keep in mind that the two columns measure different things: the first, GDP, the second, personal income.
General rate Top rate
(percent of GDP) (percent of income)
Sweden 53.2% 45.0
Denmark 48.3 40.0
Norway 47.1 23.0
Netherlands 47.0 72.0
Germany 39.2 56.0
Finland 37.7 51.0
Canada 37.3 29.0
Japan 30.9 60.0
United States 29.8 34.0
You might be surprised to learn that the United States has long had the lowest tax rates of any industrialized nation. And how does the level of taxation compare to each nation's standard of living? There are three general ways to measure standard of living: earning power, purchasing power and individual worker productivity. The U.S. has lost its lead in the first and is losing its lead in the other two.

Home ownership:

Ireland 82% Japan 60
Spain 80 Portugal 59
Luxembourg 77 United States 59
Norway 73 Finland 58
Belgium 72 Sweden 55
Greece 72 France 54
Italy 68 Netherlands 46
United Kingdom 67 Germany 40
Canada 64 Switzerland 29

Percent of families earning two paychecks:

United States 58%
Japan 33
France 33
Italy 20
Germany 18
Netherlands 16

Average Household Debt

United States $71,500
United Kingdom 35,500
Germany 27,700
France 27,650
Netherlands 5,000
Switzerland 800

Average Household Savings

Japan $45,118
Switzerland 19,971
Denmark 18,405
France 17,649
Germany 17,042
Norway 15,196
Netherlands 14,282
Finland 12,387
Sweden 10,943
United Kingdom 7,451
United States 4,201

And on and on it goes, visit the link.

All 1991 data but I assume still somewhat relavant.

 

[Malachi151]

Here is something more recent:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/Edit/news/stories/news_042800.asp

Sick of paying U.S. taxes? Sorry, but
there's not much relief anywhere else

April 28, 2000 -- If you plan to use your tax refund to book a flight to Europe so you can escape those astronomical U.S. taxes once and for all, you might want to think again.

Studies by two international groups show that Americans' personal taxes aren't so bad in the worldwide scheme of things.

Those reports put the United States about in the middle of the industrialized-nations pack when it comes to how much money an individual worker hands over to the government. When looking at how much the national economy depends on those taxes, the U.S. fares even better.

That's probably a small comfort for those of you who have just mailed a big check to the IRS. But it may provide emotional, if not fiscal, satisfaction to learn that when it comes to taxes, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the ocean.

#1 Denmark 34%
#2 Belgium 28%
#3 Finland 28%
#4 Sweden 27%
# 5 Turkey and Australia 24%
...
# 14 United States 18%

 

[shanek]

And yet again, I have to point out that the GDP has zilch all to do with the tax burden.

I've pointed out the statistic from the US Census Bureau showing that Americans at all levels pay 48% of the National Income in taxes. How does this compare with other countries?

 

[Ladewig]

Isn't somewhat stupid to define wealth solely on the basis of one's salary? I know retired people who are quite wealthy despite having a low annual income. I have meet people who earn $100,000 per year who are in debt.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Mine varies from year to year, but I came up with top .48%. Maybe I'll be higher next year!


And no, I won't donate a penny to these losers.

 

[Number Six]

Come again? LOL.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/8Comparison.htm

And on and on it goes, visit the link.

All 1991 data but I assume still somewhat relavant.

The US government collects more tax than any other nation. That is what I meant by "most taxed" nation. Of course that could be taken to be misleading but that is my point...you can highlight any point if you don't mind being misleading.

 

[peptoabysmal]

You are in the top 0,001% richest people in the world.
You don't need to know any more than that (and besides our calculator can't do sums that big).


LOL, sheesh, what a bunch of baloney. I'm no Bill Gates.

 

[karl]

I've pointed out the statistic from the US Census Bureau showing that Americans at all levels pay 48% of the National Income in taxes. How does this compare with other countries?

It's fairly low by European standards. A comparative figure for, let's say, Sweden would be above 70%. (Such statistics are a bit difficult to dig up, since it's far more common to talk about the tax burden as a percentage of the GDP.)

 

[diddidit]

I am the 54,002,440 richest person in the world.

How come I'm such a peon?

did

 

[Malachi151]

And yet again, I have to point out that the GDP has zilch all to do with the tax burden.

I've pointed out the statistic from the US Census Bureau showing that Americans at all levels pay 48% of the National Income in taxes. How does this compare with other countries?

Point it out again because I have never seen such a stat.

 

[Kodiak]

Point it out again because I have never seen such a stat.

This doesn't address your point directly, but does offer relevant data, albeit from 1999.

 

[shanek]

Point it out again because I have never seen such a stat.

I just refigured it...According to Section 14 of the 2000 US Census Report, the National Income for 1996 was $6210.4 billion. The total taxes collected by the Federal Government in 1996 was $1,572,588 million and by State and local $1,513,633 million, according to Section 9 of the report. (1996 was the last year they had statistics for both numbers.) That totals $3,088,221 million in taxes. If you do the math from these figures (all available from census.gov), I actually just calulated 49.7%. So it's even bigger than 48% (the figures I saw earlier were from 1990). It actually rounds off to 50%! HALF of our income is taxed!

 

[GroundStrength]

I am apparently in the top 0.63%. Hmmmm...

Can this thing be correct?

 

[shanek]

I strongly doubt that it is, but if it is, it's more ammo for the Minimum Wage thread—I just put in a figure of $10,500, which is what someone working full time at the US national Minimum Wage will make. This is what it said:

You are in the top 11.77% richest people in the world.
There are 5,293,470,437 people poorer than you.
How do you feel about that? A bit richer we hope. Please consider donating just a small amount to help some of the poorest people in the world. Many of their lives could be improved dramatically or even saved if you donate just one hour's salary (approx $7.29)

Oh, and in case you’re interested you are the 706,529,563 richest person in the world.

Even someone making $5,000, whom the socialists consider to be the exploited working poor, fare out thusly:

You are in the top 14.13% richest people in the world.
There are 5,152,082,262 people poorer than you.
How do you feel about that? A bit richer we hope. Please consider donating just a small amount to help some of the poorest people in the world. Many of their lives could be improved dramatically or even saved if you donate just one hour's salary (approx $3.47)

Oh, and in case you’re interested you are the 847,917,738 richest person in the world.

If it is right, then our lowest income earners are doing a lot better than even I thought they were!

 

[Number Six]

I guess the movement to raise the minimum wage can be categorized as a grab by the wealthy then. (jk)

It is pretty presumptuous of them on that page to state that in order to reduce the income inequality the reader should send them money. Why would income inequality lessen by giving money to that organization as opposed to the million other actions that one could take?

Consider two possible worlds ten years from now and call them X and Y. In X, I contribute a billion dollars today to that organization. In Y, I do not contribute a billion dolars today (nor at any time in the next ten years) to that organization.

What is the probability that there is less income inequality in X than Y?

What is the probability that there is more income inequality in Y than X?

What is the probability that X and Y have the same amount of income inequality?