In the presentation, I had the topic on Americans being overtaxed. Americans believe that we are being overtaxed, because how much taxes is taken out of salaries and tax burdens on income, property, and sales. The U.S has a progressive tax, which tax rates increase as the taxable amount increases. I have compared the United State of America to other countries tax marginal rates, citizens buying power and Social Security tax rates with there benefits. The U.S has an average marginal rate of 29% the lowest out of all the countries compared to other countries with marginal rates 31.2% and higher up until Belgium with highest marginal rate of 54.9%. The example used for comparison is a middle manger in the U.S, they have a buying power of 79,100 euros compared to Nordic countries that are not one of the top ten countries with the highest relative buying power and they have high taxes. The Social Security rates in the United States is 6.2% for employers and employees making 12.4% Social Security tax. Compared to Belgium and Denmark, employers and employees pay a total of 48.07% Social Security tax in Belgium and 30% Social Security tax in Denmark. The U.S Social Security tax rate is the lowest out of the three countries compared and most other countries. In conclusion, the Americans of the United States are not over taxed. The U.S has a lower average marginal tax rate including the tax brackets increase gradual every year. The U.S citizens' have more buying power than any other countries except for the countries above the U.S. And last the U.S has the lowest Social Security tax rate compared to Belgium and Denmark and most other countries with marginal tax rates higher than the United States. So the United States progressive tax system is not overtaxing Americans, the taxes are about right with our growing economy and budget spending.
Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/03/14/are-americans-over-taxed/
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/flattax.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/countries-with-the-highest-and-lowest- taxes.aspx
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49521672
http://www.belgium.be/en/family/social_security_in_belgium/
http://www.taxindenmark.com/article.65.html
Useful links
http://www.forbes.com/
A video on Are Americans Overtaxed
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/04/12/are_americans_overtaxed.html
