Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
If high income people were only allowed to take the same standard deduction that lower income people had to take, then that'd be fair, right? No more itemizing, no more tax breaks, no more write-offs. Standard deduction for everyone. And you pay the same tax rate on the net income after that deduction.
Problem is, that means the ultra-high income folks would actually have to pay taxes. Right now they can itemize enough that they pay no income tax at all.
The ultra-low income also pay no income tax, or they end up with a full refund on what they've paid.
Everyone else pays to cover the ultra-low income AND the ultra-high income, both of whom pay no income tax. The ultra-low can't afford to pay it. The ultra-high income can afford it, but prefer to place the burden on everyone in the middle, including low (but not ultra-low) income people.
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Clearly, you don't understand how itemizing works. The standard deduction for MFJ in 2023 is $27,200. In order to itemize, you need more than $27,200 in deductions (that's an awful lot of mortgage interest + real estate tax), and even then, the benefit is only the amount ABOVE the 27,200. You get either the standard or the itemization, not both. Very few people itemize anymore after the last remake of form 1040 when they raised the standard deduction so high. The net effect is that people with LOWER income get a standard deduction that is a much higher percentage of their income.