Tax Man
But the Taxman should also be the Math Man
I was just preparing to file my taxes when I realized that
the Tax Brackets violate the basic Laws of Math. Mattel’s old Talking Barbie doll
might be correct, “Math is Hard,” (personally I don’t think it is), but Math
also does NOT permit lies. That is why there are Laws and Proofs in Math. The
current Tax Brackets are NOT equal. The tax is on the income of individuals,
not on individuals. The distribution of income is not equal among individuals. The
distribution of income is nonlinear. That is an acknowledgement of fact, not a
judgement. According to the laws of calculus, any nonlinear curve can be approximated
by a series of straight-line segments, as long as each line segment is of an
equal interval. And IMHO, that is where the current Tax Brackets fail.
Without addressing what the marginal tax rate should be in
each bracket, a basic principle should be that each bracket be of the same size.
And by inspection it is not. Without arguing what the lowest income in the top
bracket should be, let’s just accept that amount. The equal interval, size of
the tax bracket, should be that income in the highest bracket divided by the
number of brackets before that income. In the current tax code that upper
income varies by tax filing status (Single, Married filing jointly, etc.) but
it is a specified amount. To calculate the size of the brackets correctly
according to Math is simple. Divide the lower income in the highest bracket by
6 (the number of brackets before that highest bracket.)
Because the brackets are not equal, the median ( and the
median should be used, NOT the mean)
taxpayer is paying a higher tax than would be expected. And the upper
income bracket is paying a lower tax than would be expected. I suspect that the Debt Limit and the federal
budget would be less likely to be an issue if the Tax Brackets properly acknowledged
basic Math.
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