(09-30-2020, 04:53 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(09-30-2020, 04:29 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: Maybe a better word than "reasonable" would be "typical."  I think anywhere between 25% and 38% is typical for most high earners, although one can incur even higher percentages due to the Obamacare surtax on investment income.  I'm just talking about federal income tax. 

In Biden's case, if he earned about $15 million on his book deal and speaking fees, and if he paid about $3.7 million in income tax, that would be about 25%, which I would consider a pretty typical rate.  I haven't seen his tax return, I've just read articles about it, so I don't know the details.  

In answer to your question, of course I would like to get as close to zero as possible.  Trouble is, unlike Mr. Trump, I make money.  I don't lose money.  So I'm not deducting losses like he is.  That's one of the interesting things about his taxes- he loses loads of money on most of his businesses, especially all the golf courses he owns.  He made a lot of money on the Apprentice, and that made up for some of his losses on the other businesses, but apparently, he loses enough money that he doesn't wind up with much taxable income.   His "fortune" seems to be a house of cards, and maybe an illusion.  

If you're making money, it is really really hard to avoid paying taxes.  The idea that "the rich" can avoid paying taxes is a complete myth.  The top 1% pay almost 40% of all income taxes.  If your are rich, you pay taxes.  That's all there is to it.   That's one thing that makes Trump's tax bill really unusual for a guy who claims to be rich.  If he's as rich as he claims to be, why is his tax bill so incredibly, consistently miniscule?

Why are you and other leftists like you so obsessed with President Trump's taxes?  How exactly does his personal finances affect you or anyone else?

I don't think "obsessed" is the right word for it.  "Interested" is what I am.  I have spent a lifetime in business and finance, and this stuff interests me.  

By the way, I am not a leftist.  

And how do his personal finances affect me?  Well for one thing, if the President owes someone $300 million, which is going to come due during his second term, and he won't tell us who it is, how do we know his decisions are not affected by that?  

The other interesting thing is, is he who he says he is?  Is he really this hugely successful billionaire, or is it all an illusion?  

And there are a lot of other interesting questions.

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