how much are you actually making from $10 after Government gauges you?

It depends on a few factors, but, it run from 40-60%.

Most people not do the math. Income Tax, State Tax, Social Security Tax, Sales Tax, Property Tax and Fuel Tax. I think I missed something so I will say, the Tax on Tax Tax.

Wait until the Tax Deferred IRA's etc. start getting used for retirement. By then tax be 80% and then probably a Deferred Savings Tax, so, we should get about 10 cents on the dollar for retirement.

bostonianinmo: Comparing our HIGH tax rate to another countries INSANE tax rate has ZERO meaning. You also left quite a few things out of your math. Federal income tax is NOT the only tax you pay. Just to the Federal government, you also pay Social Security and Medicare tax of 15.3%. (Don't believe the MYTH that your employer pays half. They may right the check, but YOUR income is reduced by the amount they fork over.) Don't forget sales tax in most states. You pay the Federal government $0.18 per gallon for gasoline. Most states get at least that much. I won't even guess how much of the price of EVERYTHING you buy goes to corporate income tax. If you think WE don't pay ALL taxes the government gets, you should have flunked Intro to Basic Economics.

If all I made was $10, the government would take 77 cents in FICA. I'd get all of the rest.

Of MY total tax bite (16.4% net on $125k of income last year, taxes really AREN'T all that high contrary to public opinion.) the government took $1.64 out of every $10 I earned for income tax, plus the 77 cents for FICA for a grand total of $2.41 leaving me with $7.59. The state of MO took an additional 4 cents, leaving me with $7.55. Not too shabby, IMHO.

For comparison purposes, if I lived in England I would have been left with $6.53 and if I lived in Denmark I would have been left with $4.82.

I don't know about MT, but in NYC it's about $9.

it depends