Assuming the wealthy get most of their income from investing, I would say the rate would need to be just below that where it starts to affect their decisions. A good example was back in the '80's they passed a "luxury" tax on yachts. Well, guess what happened. The rich stopped buying yachts, thereby causing many blue collar types to lose their jobs. Its been proven time and time again, that when the rate on Cap gains gets too high, you actually have a net decrease in revenue due to fewer tranactions. On the other hand, someone earning a good salary who sees his tax increase from say 28% to 30% probably isn't going to change his behavior much, and in fact may work harder to make it up. I've never understood why, in a capitalist sytem, people think tax on investments should be treated the same as tax on wages. You need the free flow of capital, ideas and labor. When tax rates start to affect that behavior, then you will get many unintended consequences. Btw, I did not vote
Hongkong and Singapore have a max tax rate of 18-20%, so i think thats an okay amount for a capitalist society
Progressive tax rates are not only immoral, they're discriminatory. We have laws against discrimination in this country. The "proper" tax rate on the wealthy is the same as the proper tax rate on EVERYBODY!
Here is an easy way to figure that out. Next time you go out to dinner with friends, ask the richest guy at the table what % of the dinner bill he would like to pay for. That is your answer.
The rich don't need to pay taxes! They 'create jobs! They need more tax credits to create more jobs! buy buy buy! wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The real issue isn't so much the tax rate, but the byzantine and consumption-encouraging manner in which things are taxed (or not taxed, or subsidized). The US generally taxes productivity and profitability rather than consumption. Coupled with the pork-barrel politics of deductions/subsidies, we've got a problem that can't be fixed by simply raising rates.
For your pleasure: US tax rates from 1913-2011 http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/fed_individual_rate_history_nominal&adjusted-20110909.pdf I think, you will find some tax rates as high as 70 something percent...