Marco.org

James B. Stewart at the New York Times:

So with all the focus on tax rates, I sat down with my 2010 returns, calculator in hand. I’m still reeling from the results.

I paid 24 percent of my adjusted gross income in federal taxes and 37 percent in combined federal, state and local income taxes.

I just did the same calculation on my 2010 returns. While they’re not quite as high as Stewart’s, my numbers really make me wish for Romney’s tax rate.

Equally rankling to many is New York City’s unincorporated business tax, which is “charged to every individual or unincorporated entity carrying on a trade, business or profession — in whole or part — in New York City,” according to the New York City Department of Finance. “I despise it,” Mr. Willens said. (As head of his own firm, Robert Willens L.L.C. in New York City, he pays the tax.) “You’ve already paid federal, state and local income tax on the same income. It’s double taxation. It’s odious. I hate it. The self-employed are supposed to be the backbone of the economy. They’re treated very harshly. I guess there’s no organized lobby for the self-employed.”

This is one of the (many) reasons I live just above New York City, not in it. New York State already imposes a large tax burden, but New York City makes it much worse.

New York City’s additional taxes effectively tell self-employed people to live somewhere else.