[mrgubmint]

I don't think it's possible to come up with the 80 to 90 percent that he claimed. The top marginal rate for federal tax is 35%. State taxes and sales taxes can be deducted from income for federal tax. Social Security tops out at $106,800.00, and Medicare taxes are 1.45% on all income. As far as the estate tax, he won't pay that - unless he inherited the money. His heirs will pay an estate tax on anything over 5 million dollars that they inherit from him

The federal estate tax tops out at 35%, but also excludes some property and deductions. New York state's estate tax is also capped at 35%.

Finally, the estate tax is seldom actual double taxation since a large percentage of estates subject to taxation are in the form of stocks or property which are not taxed until they are actually sold.