Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMercenary
Who gets to define when each of those thresholds is met? and at what amounts?
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The government.
Luxury, sales and estate taxes are a few. Another is income.
There are several tax brackets below $250k. Those people are at different levels of "not top earners." Everyone above that is a "top earner." But there is a huge difference between the couple of doctors that is bringing home $250k per year and the people bringing home $1M (and $10M, and $100M, etc).
Making $250k per year where I live (Helena, MT) is an incredible living, in Manhattan it is still a damn good living. On the other hand, while $50k per year in Helena is a good living it's much harder to live on in Manhattan, and the quality of life is much lower.
I really think Federal and State income tax rates should vary by where you live as well as by income.