What do you think is a fair tax rate for the wealthiest Americans (those making $500K or more per year)?

Top income tax rates have been as high as 80+% and as low as 20-%. Neither extreme has worked out well.

Right now it's near 40%. That's in the range that has worked well in history. The question isn't what is fair. The question is what rate has worked the best in history. That turns out to be around 50% but the data that shows the difference between 40% and 50% is weak. Given the rate is near 40% now it's hard to justify more since the high income earners already pay the vast majority of the taxes.

I think anything over 50% is totally unfair. How do you think people earn high income? Many are doctors who have hundreds of thousands of student loans and spent 10 years getting educated then a few more building a practice so if they make it big at 40-50 they earned it. To say they need to pay 90% and live on 50K they might as well have been a truck driver and won't even be able to make the minimum payments on student loans.

We need to give people incentives to live productive lives not take from those who produce and give to those that don't.

0%. Everyone should be at 0% personal income tax. I would abolish ALL taxes - personal, state, payroll, corporate...everything. But I WOULD introduce a flat 15% VAT or GST on everything. Folks on low incomes would get a VAT exemption card issued by Social Services which would apply on any purchases upto the defined poverty level per month. That means, for example, their first $1000 of purchases would be VAT exempt.

This is fair and simple.

Let's put this another way.....how would YOU feel if you were wealthy and the government decided you needed to pay more taxes than those less fortunate..... Everyone employed - should be taxed at the same rate.

What a "fair" tax rate is is one that everyone gets taxed the same rate. If you make $20,000, $200,000, or $2,000,000 a year, you should pay the same tax rate. That's what's fair. What's not fair is punishing a person just because they achieved the "American Dream".

I think it's a moot point until you close the loopholes and get rid of some of the deductions. Their tax rate is 40% but most of them pay 10% or less.

you need to define 'fair' what you think is fair is certainly not what I probably deem as fair

if everyone paid the same tax rate, say 1% without the ability to take any deductions or credits, then everyone would be on the same level as those around them, they are all paying the same amount

Anything less than 100 per cent will never be fair, in the minds of liberals.I think it should be very low and I also think we need to get rid of the insane minimum wage law, that has no place in a non-Communist country.

55% of the population pays no taxes. Seniors on social security (they shouldn t pay any) and low income. Not only that, but low income with kids get 5000-8000 in EIC and ACTC so they pay none but get thousands.

They are already paying at least 35% of the income tax while almost 50% pay NOTHING. I think it is fair that everyone pay something.