[EdwardDiego]

That FICA number is high, at least according to Wikipedia.

> Under the SE Tax Act, self-employed people are responsible for the entire percentage of 15.3% (= 12.4% [Soc. Sec.] + 2.9% [Medicare]); however, the 15.3% multiplier is applied to 92.35% of the business's net earnings from self-employment, rather than 100% of the gross earnings; the difference, 7.65%, is half of the 15.3%, and makes the calculation fair in comparison to that of regular (non-self-employed) employees.

The rest of your figures aren't really what I'd consider personal income taxation, although they're definitely interesting. Also interesting is that married people in the US of A experience a tax advantage when filing jointly - not so our tax code, it's very theoretically pure.

[derekp7]

I also didn't include the fact that state income tax, and property tax are deductible from federal income. Also mortgage interest is deductible. So, back of the envelope comes down to closer to 42% taxation.

> The rest of your figures aren't really what I'd consider personal income taxation, although they're definitely interesting

I'd say that sales tax is personal, but property tax maybe not, since that isn't directly related to income. However, it still means that for every dollar that someone pays you to do work, you only get to spend 58 cents.

[EdwardDiego]

> I'd say that sales tax is personal

Does US sales tax apply to purchases by a business?

[derekp7]

Yes, for purchases that are consumed within the business (such as office supplies, etc). However anything purchased for resale does not get sales tax -- as that tax will be collected later when the item is sold to at retail.

[nbouscal]

> Also interesting is that married people in the US of A experience a tax advantage when filing jointly

It's not quite that simple. Filing jointly confers a tax advantage when the couple makes relatively little, but becomes neutral as they earn more, and is actually a tax disadvantage when the couple makes a significant amount.

[dragonwriter]

The advantage to filing jointly is actually when the couple makes sufficiently different income, and the penalty is actually when they are close in income.

[nbouscal]

I was simplifying, and your simplification is more accurate, but neither simplification quite captures it. Both aspects play a role, with the amount the couple makes essentially scaling the benefit or detriment. If a couple makes the exact same amount but it's a low amount, there's zero detriment, but if it's a high amount there's a significant detriment. If they make very different amounts and it's a low amount, there's a significant benefit, but the size of that benefit decreases and can disappear entirely as they make more.

[EdwardDiego]

> It's not quite that simple.

That could be the catchphrase for the entire US tax code. :D