Taxing the 1 per cent: Public Opinion vs Public Policy | Basically the rich are under-taxed

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[–]NetweaselContinuing the struggle 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

in the case of income tax, yes, it is theft and regressive taxation

I am curious about this point....

How do you figure the US Federal Income Tax to be a regressive tax?

[–]ageingrockstar 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

What is meant by 'regressive' ?

Investopedia looks at it only within the domain of income :

The term regressive tax refers to a tax that is applied uniformly regardless of income. Regressive taxes take a larger percentage of income from low-income earners than from middle- and high-income earners. As such, the tax burden decreases with regressive taxes as income rises. It is contrasted with a progressive tax, which takes a larger percentage from high-income earners. Common forms of regressive include sales tax, gas tax, and payroll tax.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regressivetax.asp

In that sense, no, income taxes, which commonly have an increasing rate as income increases are not regressive.

However, let's look at Wikipedia's definition :

In terms of individual income and wealth, a regressive tax imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich: there is an inverse relationship between the tax rate and the taxpayer's ability to pay, as measured by assets, consumption, or income. These taxes tend to reduce the tax burden of the people with a higher ability to pay, as they shift the relative burden increasingly to those with a lower ability to pay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regressive_tax

Now the domain has been expanded to 'income and wealth'. That comes closer to what I mean, but is still not sufficient. I don't necessarily have it in for the rich, I have it in for those who leech off and harm society. The more you leech off and harm society the more you should be taxed. This is the rentier class and those who 'externalise costs' while retaining profits, i.e. push them onto society by pollution or by having society pay for their losses through bailouts and so on. The people who benefit from the financialisation of the economy, while ordinary workers, who pay income tax, get shafted.