Suppose you are a typical person in the U.S. economy. You pay 4 percent of your income in a state income tax and 15.3 percent of your labor earnings in federal payroll taxes (employer and employee shares combined). You also pay federal income taxes as in Table 3. How much tax of each type do you pay if you earn $20,000 a year? Taking all taxes into account, what are your average and marginal tax rates? What happens to your tax bill and to your average and marginal tax rates if your income rises to $40,000?
TABLE 3
On taxable income The Tax rate is
Up to $8,375 10%
From $8,735 to $34,000 15%
From $34,000 to $82,400 25%
From $82,400 to $171,850 28%
From 171,850 to $373,650 33%
Over $373,650 35%