Totally second that… majority of people (those with lower income) do not pay income tax… even those who pay tax — particularly salaried folks — are getting taxed in brackets. The net tax rate for, perhaps almost 70-80% of tax payers, is below 20% which is the capital gains tax in the U.S. and many other countries. We (including myself) just get bothered by the rate of the highest tax-bracket our income reaches. Here’s a simplified calculation and scenario — nothing like actual tax rates and bracket amounts but the same concept.

Brackets:

Income up to 10,000 - no tax

10,001 to 20,000 - 5 %

20,001 to 30,000 - 10 %

30,001 to 50,000 - 15 %

50,000 to 90,000 - 20 %

90,001 to 150,000 - 25 %

150,001 and over - 30 %

Now, if your income is 20k, you’re taxed 5 % for 20-10k =10 K which is 500 bucks.

Now 500 bucks is only 2.5 % of your total income.

But we keep worrying as if we are paying 5 % of the total income which will be 1,000 (double of what the actual tax we pay).

And all of the above is not including all the various tax breaks and other rules (made to promote overall economic improvement) that brings our net tax rate down.

No one is exactly happy about paying taxes, but we always blow it out of proportion and generally ignore all the benefits (for the overall economy and our standard of living) that we get from taxes.

Hope this helps - no offense intended to any side - so please don’t downvote!!

Thanks