What level would you rather pay taxes?

[OnePimpTiger]

Sorry madman, I've been out of town.

I think state and local taxes should be higher than federal taxes, but are currently too high. Government in general, fed/state/local all, have intruded into many areas where they were never meant to be and the taxpayers pay for these unconstitutional expenses/programs. But, state and local taxes should be high because they deal with roads, education, public works (water, sewer, etc), police depts, fire depts, etc, etc, etc. The states are supposed to hold the power and provide the necessary services, per the Constitution, and the federal government is merely supposed to support them and provide the things the states can't provide themselves. Anything not specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution is supposed to be reserved for the states.

But, my local government for example, is a complete cluster. They move out of the current town hall because it's outdated. Instead of renovating the recently available old library, which has more than enough space, they buy property they didn't need and build a new town hall. Likewise, the other town offices recently moved into another building in town that is no more than 10 years old max. The building was still very up-to-date and more than adequate. So what do they do? Spend over $1 million renovating it, including $150,000 for an interior decorator. Endless time, effort, resources, and money are spent on unnecessary "beautifying" of the town areas, all of which is paid for by the taxpayers of course. Every time elections roll around, the incumbents talk about not raising taxes, then after elected, go to jacking them up for whatever pet project they like. So it's extremely similar to federal government, only they don't have their hands in every cookie jar imaginable, just the ones that affect our town and county.

[jlzinck]

Questions first
How did you come about the 76.2 cents on the dollar figure?

This is my post tax or take home amount from every dollar I earn.

And I made a mistake on my buying power of my 76.2 cents take home pay. It's 71.7 cents. Not 71.4 cents

[MadMan1978]

This is my post tax or take home amount from every dollar I earn.

And I made a mistake on my buying power of my 76.2 cents take home pay. It's 71.7 cents. Not 71.4 cents

So that the FICA, medicare tax and state taxes

[jlzinck]

So that the FICA, medicare tax and state taxes

Yes those are my payroll taxes.

Now most every purchase I make is taxed, my house is taxed, my car is taxed, my gas is taxed at 40 cents/gallon.

And here in Massachusetts they even place a tax on a tax. Alcohol is already taxed when put out for sale. I'm not sure but I believe the state imposed tax is about 15%. NOW they added sales taxes to alcohol so you are paying an additional 6.25% tax on the 15% as well as the rest of the cost.

[MadMan1978]

Yes those are my payroll taxes.

Now most every purchase I make is taxed, my house is taxed, my car is taxed, my gas is taxed at 40 cents/gallon.

And here in Massachusetts they even place a tax on a tax. Alcohol is already taxed when put out for sale. I'm not sure but I believe the state imposed tax is about 15%. NOW they added sales taxes to alcohol so you are paying an additional 6.25% tax on the 15% as well as the rest of the cost.

First check the profile i live in Mass
Actually the gas tax in Mass is 41.9 with 18.4 being Federal the remaining is state
and for those who ask California is the highest in the nation topping over 60 cents per gallon
Sin taxes were raise across the board at the federal level not state i believe.

You forgot to add they also allowed towns to raise property taxes 2.5% , which my town did raise. I remember the huge debate on which tax to raise last year. They were going to gas the gas tax 23 cents to 64.9. Glad that was defeated! Then they raise the Sales tax which wont even make a dent in the deficit.