There exists a certain group of people that somehow believe that the ultra-wealthy(billionaires mostly) do not pay their fair share of the taxes. They express ideas like the rich are greedy and complain about how they spend their money as if they had a right to determine how anyone spends their money.
There’s even a whole Facebook page dedicated to that kind of thing, it’s called Patriotic Millionaires.
Granted it is entirely possible that some of the Ultra-wealthy are in fact greedy and the rich do indeed go to great lengths to shelter their money from taxation. However, there is no legal duty to arrange your financial affairs in a manner that would best pay the treasury.
Judge Learned Hand said it best, “Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.“
In a tax system that is as complex as the one we have, and designed to favor the wealthy, What specifically is their fair share? Define it exactly or as close to that as humanly possible.
Does anyone have any realistic idea of what the fair share is? 50 percent, 60%, 70%, more, what figure is appropriate and how do you arrive at that conclusion?
Pretend that I am from Missouri and show me what that fair share looks like. Please be specific.