Taxation based on a percentage of your income is pretty standard. We have a tax credit which gives us a minimum of income un-taxed, and beyond that you are taxed at 21% and if you earn over a certain amount (~€100K ) any further earnings are taxed at 40%

I believe it is fair that those who can afford to contrinbute more to societies costs do so.
From Ireland.

fair tax is a marketing political name, the technical term is regressive tax
most of the world has a mix of regressive (in the form of a consumption based tax) and progressive (income tax).

i dont think other countries would adopt america tax structure as this could lead to american crime rates and spending money to build prisons and arm the police.

LOL sean I think I may have a new found respect for you...
I do not like the idea that the government can hold me at gun point to take the money I have earned...

@tailboarder, maybe it's just a matter of prespective, but i choose to give up a portion of my wages as a contribution to society. So it's not at gunpoint. I'm glad that i live in a society which encourages collective behaviour to benefit the whole of society.

As i've said before if you want to live in a society which doesn't tax you and doesn't provide you with services or infrastructure (perhaps all those things that the government do could be offered by a corporation of some kind) then by all means move - create your own. It is highly unlikely that you will convince your government to remove all taxation - but i'm happy to feel a lot closer to my politicians (even if i don't think very much of their ability - but i'd be willing to criticise a lot of Irish people for their willingness to accept mediocre things, be it food, food service, internet quality, or governance - some of the best people i've worked for in Ireland were Italian or Spannish, and perhaps the fact that they were already successful having moved country means i've only been exposed to the best Italian and Spannish managers, but they are still better than the average Irish managers)

Tailboarder: i think you would be best to argue for reduced federal budgets, (limiting federal taxation, but enabling individual states to provide for part of their budgets) and for details of all public spending to be made available to the public. There is no reason why you shouldn't know what your tax dollars are spent on and from there you can argue for reductions in unneccesary spending (and hopefully reduce waste in the system)

wow-ort do you think I don't appreciate what government provides? You are sadly mistaken... I believe we should have a lower burdon on those that earn fewer. Look at my tax burdon...
My wife and I combined make less than $100k usd. our tax liability is over 60%. why is it we should pay so much? We used to live in Florida and I would give my left nut to move back. Florida has no income tax. I believe the fedeeal income tax is the same. I am hopeful Georgia is on track to eliminate state income tax because the original proponents of the fair tax are from GA. Look at the benefits of a true consumption tax.
I believe our legislators should balance the budget and pay off our national debt before spending another dime of tax payer money.
I have no sympathy fot the dregs that sit on the couch all day eating cheetos, drinking koolaid, and wathcing Springer talking about how 'the man' is out to get them...

sorryif i mis-understood your stance. "the government can hold me at gun point to take [my] money" is a position i don't really get. Still i do see the advantage of farming out public services to private corporations. (like say having a governemnt built telecoms infractructure, rented to different companies who then offer internet service to the general public) I just happen to support public spending on health care....

now maybe you feel the same, and 60% of your income is a lot, (i'm rather shocked, what part of that is federal and what is at the state level? and is a certain amount refundable if spent on things like health insurance et al?)

I think in a regressive tax system you would probably just as worse off tailboarder. You just want your income tax more progresive.

Anyways, I live in Canada so we have so much tax we don't know what to do with it. We have a general sales tax (5%) plus a provincial sales tax (In Ontario its (8%). Its mandated to be shown though, so all prices are pretax, and then the tax is added on the remind everyone. I know that doesn't happen in Europe, but maybe US? Also a couple of things are exempt, like prescription drugs and basic groceries. Then there are levels for our income tax so the rich pay a ton and the poor pay not all that much, I think the difference is larger than most countries but I wouldn't know.

I am taxed (my household is taxed) 32% on our income from fedral. 12% by FICA (social security) which is welfare and government held retirement (cough cough BULL SHIT), 9% State income tax, 7% sales tax on everything bought in Georgia, Not to mention all of the embedded taxes on things like gas, beer, and cigarettes. I do not mind the embedded taxes as much but I do mond the taxes that come out of my check just because I have a job.

All income tax is taken prior to me getting paid by my employer and handed straight to the government as are FICA and state income taxes.

10% sales tax(Called Goods and Services Tax= GST), and variable tax rates depending on how much you earn for personal income tax. standard is aout 29-31%

Australia anyway

japan has very low income tax for low to medium wage- about 6%. local tax around 8%and a sales tax at 5%, all pretty low but the income tax is quite progressive so bonuses and higher paid people take a bigger hit. company tax is quite high i think.

Your federal tax is WAY to high tailborder. I make nearly 80K (without the wife's income) and only pay 28% total in KY including social security, federal, state, and City of Cincinnati. you need to look into that. Are you sure some of it isn't union dues and deductions for insurance?

FYI sales tax here, or VAT (Value Added Tax) is 21% on all goods except children's clothes, and some food products, and extra tax is levied on alcohol and tabacco (which is fine as you need to cover the extra cost incurred by society by the use of these products) but it is always included in the price of everything, (probably by law) nobody thinks about it. Social insurance is considerable lower, about 4% i think, but i'm not sure what they go and spend it on...

I always liked that about my trips to Germany. VAT is already included in the price. Wish they would do that here in the states.