“It is day after day in this institution, borrow money, run up the debt, run up the deficits and then with a straight face say, we are going to repeal a tax that affects 1 percent of the American people, just 1 percent of the American people.” PeopleRunningFacesTaxesPercentInstitutionsDebtDeficitStraight Face Author:Richard Neal
“There were no jobs created in America from 1945, when the war ended, through 2003. How could there be? Taxes were too high. Preposterously so under Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan (who left office with a 28 percent rate on long-term capital gains) and Bush the Elder.” LongWarJobsAmericaLeftTermTaxesOfficePercentGainsRateLong TermEldersCapital Gains Author:Andrew Tobias
“First, the oil and gas business pays its fair share of taxes. Despite the current debate on energy taxes, few businesses pay more in taxes than oil and gas companies. The worldwide effective tax rate for our industry in 2010 was 40 percent. That's higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 35 percent and the rate for manufacturers of 26.5 percent.” FirstsEnergyPayCompanyShareIndustryHigherTaxesPercentFairsRateCurrentsOilDebateDespiteGasFair ShareOil And Gas Author:John S. Watson
“Al Gore has made no serious attempt to level the playing field for U.S. agriculture exports, which have fallen 16 percent in the last three years. And Al Gore has opposed every serious proposal to provide American farmers with meaningful tax relief.” YearsMadeLastsThreeLevelsFieldsSeriousTaxesPercentMeaningfulFallenReliefAlsFarmersThree YearsAgricultureProposalGorePlaying Fields Author:Dan Quayle
“Wes Clark put forward a middle-class tax plan, but it only helps a quarter of middle-class families, none without minor children at home. And mine helps 98 percent of the middle class.” ChildrenHelpingHomeClassPlansMiddleMinesTaxesPercentMiddle ClassQuartersMinorsMiddle Class Family Author:Joe Lieberman
“They have passed the big inheritance tax, and that gets you when you are gone. You used to could die and be able to beat taxes, but not now. The undertaker don't go over your body as carefully as the assessor does your accumilated assets, and he gets his before the undertaker. They have it on these big fortunes now where they pay as high as 60 to 70 percent of what they leave. That's mighty expensive dying when it runs into money like that, and you won't see 'em dropping off as casually as they have been.” DoeHas BeensBodyBigsRunningAbleUsedDiesPayGoneDyingTaxesBeatsPercentFortuneYour BodyExpensiveEmsOver YouAssetsInheritanceDroppingUndertakerInheritance Tax Author:Will Rogers
“If you're really concerned about deficits, you cannot take seriously a budget that would give $30 billion a year worth of tax cuts to not just the top 1 percent but the top 0.1 percent.” IfsGivingYearsCuttingTaxesPercentConcernedBillionsBudgetsDeficitTax Cuts Author:Barack Obama
“If you bring [tax] rates down, it makes it easier for small business to keep more of their capital and hire people. And for me, this is about jobs. I want to get America's economy going again. Fifty-four percent of America's workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals. So when you bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and hire more people.” PeopleIfsWantAbleJobsAmericaIndividualEconomyFourEasierTaxesPercentWorkersRateFiftyMore MoneySmall Business Author:Mitt Romney
“"Average" isn't so hot at the race track given those steep track takes. "Average" is pretty decent for stocks, something like 6 percent above the inflation rate. For a buy-and -hold investor, commissions and taxes are small.” GivenRaceTaxesPercentHotRateAverageTrackDecentInvestorsInflationSteepRace Track Author:William Poundstone
“The healthcare reform bill now includes a tanning booth tax of 10 percent. You know what this means? This whole thing could be funded by the cast of 'Jersey Shore.'” KnowsMeanWholeTaxesPercentBillsCastsReformShoreHealthcareJerseyJersey ShoreTanningHealthcare Reform Author:Jay Leno
“When two working people decide to marry, their federal income tax is usually increased. As soon as one spouse earns at least 20 percent of a married couple's total income, the couple pays a 'marriage tax.' ... The United States is the only major industrialized nation in the free world in which the tax cost of the second [married] earner's entry into the work force is higher than that of the first. On one hand, our government's social policy is to help working women earn equal salaries to those of men, but on the other we have a tax structure that penalizes them when they do so.” PeopleMenWorldFirstsTwoStatesHelpingHandsGovernmentForceNationsSocialUnitedPayUnited StatesPolicyCoupleHigherCostTaxesEqualMarriedMajorsPercentStructureIncomeSexismSpouseSalaryEntryIncome TaxFree WorldMarried CouplesWorking WomenSocial Policy Author:Millicent Fenwick
“More retirees, longer life expectancy, larger benefits, and fewer workers - these trends have meant substantial increases in the payroll tax. Since the social security program began, the payroll tax has increased more than 500 percent.” SocialSecurityTaxesBenefitsPercentProgramIncreaseWorkersTrendsFewerSocial SecurityExpectancyPayrollLife ExpectancyPayroll TaxLonger Life Author:Alex Tabarrok
“As [House] speaker, I came back, working with President Bill Clinton. We passed a very Reagan-like program: less regulation, lower taxes. Unemployment dropped to 4.2 percent. We created 11 million jobs.” JobsHousePresidentMillionsTaxesPercentProgramBillsClintonSpeakersRegulationUnemploymentPresident Bill Clinton Author:Newt Gingrich
“Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That's not a tax, that's barely a tip.” FireTaxesPercentPaidRomney Author:Jay Leno
“I love to tell how I'm suffering because one percent we're paying 25 percent of the total. We're not paying 25 percent of the total taxes on individuals. We're paying maybe 25 percent of the income tax, but the payroll tax is over a third of the receipts of the federal government. And they don't take that from me on capital gains. They don't take that from me on dividends. They take from the woman who comes in and takes the wastebaskets out.” GovernmentSufferingIndividualTaxesPercentGainsThirdsIncomeFederal GovernmentIncome TaxDividendsPayrollReceiptsCapital GainsPayroll Tax Author:Howard Warren Buffett
“I forget what the relevant American rate is, but I can tell you that our goal is to have a combined federal-provincial corporate tax rate of no more than 25 percent. We're on target to do that by 2012. We will have significantly - by a significant margin the lowest corporate tax rates in the G-7, and that's our - our government's objective.” I CanGovernmentGoalForgetTaxesPercentRateSignificantObjectivesCorporateTargetRelevantLowestMargins Author:Stephen Harper
“Under current law, on January 1, 2013, there's going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases.” ImportantLawCuttingTaxesPercentIncreaseCurrentsSpendingMassiveCliffsJanuaryTax IncreasesGangnam StyleSpending CutsJanuary 1stFiscal Cliff Author:Ben Bernanke
“A minuscule 4 percent of funds produce market-beating after-tax results with a scant 0.6 percent (annual) margin of gain. The 96 percent of funds that fail to meet or beat the Vanguard 500 Index Fund lose by a wealth-destroying margin of 4.8 percent per annum.” LosesWealthResultsFailingProduceTaxesBeatsPercentGainsInvestingFundDestroyingMarginsAnnualsVanguardIndex Funds Author:David F. Swensen
“A four percent growth strategy means you fix a convoluted tax code. You get in and you change every aspect of regulations that are job killers. You get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something that doesn't suppress wages and kill jobs.” MeanJobsGrowthFourTaxesPercentAspectStrategyCodeKillersRegulationWagesObamacareConvoluted Author:Jeb Bush
“If every rich person gave 50 percent of their wealth to charity, I would not say they should pay more taxes.” IfsShouldPersonsWealthPayRichTaxesPercentCharityRich Person Author:George Soros
“It is a myth that higher taxes lead to less demand and slower growth. In the first three decades after World War II, US top tax rates on the wealthy were never below 70 percent.” WorldFirstsWarThreeGrowthHigherDemandTaxesPercentRateMythDecadesWar Of The WorldsWealthyWorld War IiWorld War I Author:Robert Reich
“Ninety-nine percent of everyday things are things we don't need - that goes for regular visits to the hairdresser just as it does for clothing. What would it mean if we all consumed 20 percent less? It would be catastrophic. It would mean 20 percent less jobs, 20 percent less taxes, 20 percent less money for schools, doctors, roads. The global economy would collapse.” IfsNeedsMeanDoeWould BeSchoolJobsEconomyTaxesPercentDoctorsEverydayNineClothingsCollapseNinetyConsumedGlobal EconomyNinety NineHairdresserEveryday Things Author:Karl-Johan Persson
“If the US government spends 40 percent of the nation's income, as it does through either borrowing or taxes, that income is not available for people to spend. The deficit is an indirect method of taxation. Of course, politicians prefer to borrow instead of tax because then someone down the road has to deal with the consequences.” PeopleIfsDoeGovernmentCoursesNationsDealsPoliticianTaxesPercentConsequenceMethodAvailableIncomeTaxationDeficitDown The RoadBorrowingIndirect Author:Milton Friedman
“I think the latest estimates were that we have about 250,000 millionaires and billionaires. President Obama wants to increase their taxes 13 percent.” ThinkingWantPresidentTaxesPercentIncreasePresident ObamaMillionaireBillionaire Author:Joe Walsh
“I'm not the only taxpayer who has no idea what he's sending to the IRS. This year, only 28 percent of all Americans will prepare their own tax returns, according to a voice in my head that invents accurate-sounding statistics.” YearsIdeasVoiceReturnTaxesPercentNo IdeaStatisticsAccurateTaxpayersIrsTax ReturnsVoices In My Head Author:Dave Barry
“Ben Carson says his flat tax will be around 15 percent. And by God, if he ever shows you the details, you'll see how awesome and deficit-killing it is.” IfsShowsTaxesPercentKillingDetailsFlatsDeficitKilling ItFlat TaxBen Carson Author:Kevin Drum
“We owe to every businessperson and worker in America the best environment in the world to create a job. We owe that to American business. 35 percent corporate tax rate is the second highest in the world. We need to lower it so they don’t leave.” WorldNeedsHelpingJobsAmericaGoalClassEnvironmentFiveMiddleTaxesHighestPercentWorkersRateCorporateThirtyMiddle ClassAmerican Business Author:Lindsey Graham
“I don't go tanning anymore because Obama put a 10 percent tax on tanning. I feel like he did that intentionally for us, like McCain would never put a 10 percent tax on tanning because he's pale and he would probably wanna be tanned.” FeelsTaxesPercentShorePaleMccainJersey ShoreTanningGuidos Author:Oprah Winfrey
“My plan has all that. It's energy independence. It will help our economy. It's a significant tax cut for corporations, including automatic expensing. It's bringing all those profits home from Europe without any taxation. It's lowering our corporate - or our personal rate to 28 percent, the same rate that Ronald Reagan had.” HelpingHomeEnergyEconomyCuttingPlansTaxesPercentEuropeIndependenceRateIncludingProfitSignificantCorporateCorporationsTaxationTax CutsEnergy Independence Author:Sean Hannity
“Law Number XX: In any given year, Congress will appropriate the amount of funding approved the prior year plus three-fourths of whatever change the administration requests, minus 4-percent tax.” YearsLawThreeGivenNumbersAmountTaxesPercentCongressAdministrationAppropriatePlusFundingRequestApprovedMinus Author:Norman Ralph Augustine
“The American people care about the fact that we have $17 trillion in debt and 10 percent of every tax dollar that's coming in is going to pay for past overspending.” PeopleFactsCarePastPayTaxesPercentDollarsDebtTax DollarsOverspending Author:Carol Roth
“It makes no difference to a widow with her savings in a 5 percent passbook account whether she pays 100 percent income tax on her interest income during a period of zero inflation or pays no income tax during years of 5 percent inflation. Either way, she is 'taxed' in a manner that leaves her no real income whatsoever. Any money she spends comes right out of capital. She would find outrageous a 100 percent income tax but doesn't seem to notice that 5 percent inflation is the economic equivalent.” WayYearsRealSeemsInterestDifferencesPayEconomicPeriodsTaxesPercentAccountsIncomeSavingZeroInflationSavingsOutrageousWidowsIncome Tax Author:Warren Buffett
“President Lyndon Johnson's administration was known for his War on Poverty. President Obama's will become notable for his War on Prosperity. We're speaking, of course, of Obama's plans to hike income taxes on the most wealthy 2 or 3 percent of the nation. He's not just raising the top rate to 39.6 percent; he's also disallowing about one-third of top earner's deductions, whether for state and local taxes, charitable contributions or mortgage interest. This is an effective hike in their taxes by an average of about 20 percent.” WarStatesCoursesNationsPresidentInterestKnownPovertyPlansTaxesPercentThirdsRateAverageProsperityIncomeLocalsAdministrationContributionWealthyPresident ObamaJohnsonNotableMortgageIncome TaxCharitableDeductionsWar On PovertyPresident Lyndon Johnson Author:Dick Morris
“Up until 1986, the top marginal rate, the top statutory rate was 50 percent. Now it's 35 percent. And all the pressure is on to lower that even further. And this just doesn't make a great deal of sense. When people say, 'Oh, we can't raise taxes on the rich. They'll go on strike, they'll move to another country.' But within recent memory, it hasn't been that long ago that we had rates that were substantially higher. And these people did just fine. I just think that there's a disconnect between the facts of what taxes do and the sort of mythology of what they do.” PeopleThinkingLongCountryFactsMovingMemoriesDealsRichFineGoes OnHigherTaxesPercentPressureRaisesRateStrikesMythologyLong Ago Author:Bruce Bartlett
“We are all used to paying a sales tax when we buy things - almost 9 percent here in New York City. The application of this concept to the financial sector could solve our need for revenue, bring some sanity back into the financial sector, and give us a way to raise the revenue we need to run the government in a fiscally responsible way.” WayNeedsGivingGovernmentRunningUsedCitiesNew YorkTaxesPercentConceptsResponsibleRaisesFinancialSolveNew York CityApplicationSanityRevenueSales Tax Author:Eliot Spitzer
“My financial adviser Ric Edelman...thinks the time to start educating people about money is when they are children. He's set up a retirement plan called the RIC-E-Trust that can provide retirement security. A $5,000 one-time tax-deferred investment at birth, with an average interest rate of ten percent compounded, means that a child would have $2.4 million when he or she is 65 years old. Who needs Social Security with that kind of nest egg?” PeopleThinkingNeedsYearsKindMeanChildrenSocialInterestMillionsPlansSecurityBirthTenTaxesPercentInvestmentRateFinancialAverageEggsRetirementOne TimeSocial SecurityNestsInterest RateAdviser Author:Cal Thomas
“Lobbyists know that a 0 percent tax rate on capital income is not, in fact, the lowest possible rate. There can be negative tax rates. There can be subsidies. There can be allowances for depreciation. Lobbyists are adaptive creatures.” KnowsFactsCreaturesTaxesPercentNegativeRateIncomeLowestAllowanceSubsidiesLobbyistsAdaptiveDepreciation Author:Joel Achenbach
“Under my plan, 85 percent of America will pay no tax or have a flat tax at our lowest rate of 15 percent.” AmericaPayPlansTaxesPercentRateFlatsLowestFlat Tax Author:John McCain
“According to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, Donald Trump`s tax plan is going to increase the national debt by more than 50 percent over ten years.” YearsPlansPolicyTrumpTenTaxesPercentIncreaseDebtAnalysisNational Debt Author:Lawrence O'Donnell
“Donald Trump got himself very far to the left. When he was considering running for president in 2000, he was for a 13 percent wealth tax on wealthy people to retire the national debt.” PeopleRunningLeftPresidentWealthTrumpTaxesPercentDebtWealthyRetiringConsideringNational Debt Author:Chris Hayes
“If you have a 50 percent match and you get in trouble financially, you can either withdraw money as a loan, or withdraw the 50 percent match. If you take it out, you have to pay taxes on it, but you still come out ahead.” IfsStillsPayTroubleTaxesPercentLoan Author:Suze Orman
“The focus, to my mind, is to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States. I think by temperament he is unqualified to be president. I think his views - you have a guy who's running for president who rejects science, doesn't even believe climate change is real, let alone wants to do something about it, wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top two-tenths of one percent.” ThinkingWantGivingMindBelieveDoeTwoRealStatesRunningGuyPresidentUnitedViewsBreakUnited StatesFocusTrumpTaxesPercentDollarsClimateClimate ChangeBillionsRejectsTemperamentUnqualifiedTax Breaks Author:Bernie Sanders
“The kind of plan that Donald [Tramp] has put forth would be trickle-down economics all over again. In fact, it would be the most extreme version, the biggest tax cuts for the top percent of the people in this country than we've ever had.” PeopleKindCountryFactsWould BeCuttingPlansTaxesPercentEconomicsExtremesVersionsTax CutsTrampsTrickle DownTrickle Down Economics Author:Hillary Clinton
“You have to abolish pension plans. You have to abolish social spending. You have to raise taxes. You have to have at least fifty percent of the European population emigrate, either to Russia or China. You would have to have mass starvation. Very simple. That's the price that the Eurozone thinks is well worth paying.” ThinkingWellsSocialSimplePlansTaxesMassPercentRaisesPopulationChinaSpendingRussiaFiftyStarvationAbolishPensionEurozonePension Plans Author:Michael Hudson
“I think [Donald Trump] s got the votes for [tax reform]. I think he's definitely has the Republican votes for it, in House and Senate, and I think he probably has maybe 20 percent of the Democratic vote for it. So he could get it done with a bipartisan majority.” ThinkingDoneHouseTrumpRepublicanTaxesPercentVoteMajorityDemocraticReformSenateGet It DoneBipartisanTax Reform Author:Rudy Giuliani
“Income tax in particular in the United States is concentrated on the top half of the income distribution, and very heavily skewed towards the top 10 or even top 1 percent.” StatesUnitedHalfUnited StatesParticularTaxesPercentIncomeDistributionIncome TaxTop 10Income Distribution Author:Judy Woodruff
“The capital gains tax is 15 percent now. So I sit there in my office and I make a lot of money by capital gains, and I pay 15 percent, and I pay no payroll tax on it.” PayTaxesOfficePercentGainsLots Of MoneyPayrollCapital GainsPayroll TaxCapital Gains Tax Author:Warren Buffett
“We're paying maybe 25 percent of the income tax, but the payroll tax is over a third of the receipts of the federal government. And they don't take that from me on capital gains. They don't take that from me on dividends.” GovernmentTaxesPercentGainsThirdsIncomeFederal GovernmentIncome TaxDividendsPayrollReceiptsCapital GainsPayroll Tax Author:Warren Buffett
“Senator McCain believes there ought to be a limit to how much the government can take from anybody, and he believes that today with the federal tax rate at 35 percent that that's more than the government ought to be taking from any individual regardless of how much they make.” BelieveGovernmentTodayIndividualOughtLimitsTaxesPercentRateSenatorsMccainFederal Taxes Author:Karl Rove
“You got to remember, S corporations pay one layer of tax, corporations pay two layers of tax. So we basically see equivalent, but here`s the point. The rest of the world, they tax their businesses at an average rate in the industrialized world of 23 percent. Our corporate is 35. Our top S corporate, small business rate is 44.6 effectively. This is killing us.” WorldTwoRememberPayTaxesPercentKillingRateAverageCorporateCorporationsLayersSmall Business Author:Paul Ryan