> 2. People currently had any idea what they were spending on taxes
Taxes include all the things. Not just Federal income tax. It gets frustrating comparing tax rates to say - European nations - when they typically will be quoting all-in tax rates other than sales tax (VAT) - where the US number will almost invariably list only the federal income tax rate which tells not even half the story in many cases.
social security, medicare, medicaid, local income taxes, state income taxes, federal income taxes, real estate taxes, sales taxes.
Adding those taxes together equals your total tax load. I think more people are closer to 50% than you'd suspect.
Programs like social security and medicare are re-distributive in nature and indistinguishable from taxes - they simply were marketed differently for political reasons. But lets call them what they are.
> 401k contributions, pre-tax benefits like health insurance, transportation benefits, FSA's, etc.,.
Agreed that those are not taxes - in fact somewhat the opposite!
> Programs like social security and medicare are re-distributive in nature and indistinguishable from taxes
I do think the distinction is relevant: The expected result is that you will get every dime you put into social security and medicare back. And then some. They're required savings accounts. Taxes spent on interstates, debt repayment, and the military, however, are truly expenses.
Taxes include all the things. Not just Federal income tax. It gets frustrating comparing tax rates to say - European nations - when they typically will be quoting all-in tax rates other than sales tax (VAT) - where the US number will almost invariably list only the federal income tax rate which tells not even half the story in many cases.
social security, medicare, medicaid, local income taxes, state income taxes, federal income taxes, real estate taxes, sales taxes.
Adding those taxes together equals your total tax load. I think more people are closer to 50% than you'd suspect. Programs like social security and medicare are re-distributive in nature and indistinguishable from taxes - they simply were marketed differently for political reasons. But lets call them what they are.
> 401k contributions, pre-tax benefits like health insurance, transportation benefits, FSA's, etc.,.
Agreed that those are not taxes - in fact somewhat the opposite!
Edit: formatting