Editing Economy of the United States (section)

===Taxation===
{{Main|Taxation in the United States}}

[[Taxation in the United States]] is a complex system which may involve payment to at least four different levels of government and many methods of taxation. Taxes are levied by the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]], by the [[State governments of the United States|state governments]], and often by [[Local government in the United States|local governments]], which may include [[Counties of the United States|counties]], municipalities, [[Township (United States)|township]], [[school district]]s, and other [[Special district (United States)|special-purpose districts]], which include fire, utility, and transit districts.<ref>{{cite news |title=America's Aversion to Taxes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/business/economy/slipping-behind-because-of-an-aversion-to-taxes.html?_r=1&src=recg |quote=In 1965, taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.7 percent of the nation's output. In 2010, they amounted to 24.8 percent. Excluding Chile and Mexico, the United States raises less tax revenue, as a share of the economy, than every other industrial country. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 14, 2012 |access-date=August 15, 2012 |first=Eduardo |last=Porter}}</ref>

Forms of taxation include taxes on [[Income tax in the United States|income]], [[Property tax in the United States|property]], [[Sales tax in the United States|sales]], imports, payroll, estates and gifts, as well as various fees. When taxation by all government levels taken into consideration, the [[List of countries by tax revenue as percentage of GDP|total taxation as percentage of GDP]] was approximately a quarter of GDP in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.org/index/country/unitedstates |title=Index of Economic Freedom: United States |publisher=Index of Economic Freedom |access-date=February 12, 2012 |archive-date=March 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320134206/http://www.heritage.org/index/country/unitedstates |url-status=unfit }}</ref> Share of [[black market]] in the U.S. economy is very low compared to other countries.<ref name="Trans-Atlantic Comparisons 3-2">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,628389-2,00.html |work=Der Spiegel |title=Is the US Really a Nation of God-Fearing Darwin-Haters? |date=June 6, 2009}}</ref>

Although a federal [[wealth tax]] is prohibited by the [[United States Constitution]] unless the receipts are distributed to the States by their populations, state and local government property tax amount to a wealth tax on [[real estate]], and because [[Capital gains tax in the United States|capital gains]] are taxed on nominal instead of inflation-adjusted profits, the capital gains tax amounts to a wealth tax on the inflation rate.<ref name=YglesiasWealth>{{cite news|last=Yglesias|first=Matthew|title=America Does Tax Wealth, Just Not Very Intelligently|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/03/06/america_s_wealth_tax_it_s_called_property_taxes_and_they_re_not_very_smart.html|access-date=March 18, 2013|newspaper=Slate|date=March 6, 2013}}</ref>

U.S. taxation is generally [[Progressive tax|progressive]], especially at the federal level, and is among the most progressive in the developed world.<ref name = "CBO 2010">{{cite web|url=http://cbo.gov/publication/44604|title=The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010|publisher=The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO)|date=December 4, 2013|access-date=August 13, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prasad |first1=M. |last2=Deng|first2= Y. |title=Taxation and the worlds of welfare |journal= Socio-Economic Review |date=April 2, 2009 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=431–57 |doi= 10.1093/ser/mwp005 |url=http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/480.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Dylan47>{{cite news |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |title=Other countries don't have a "47%" |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/19/other-countries-dont-have-a-47/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 29, 2013 |date=September 19, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stephen |first=Ohlemacher |title=Tax bills for rich families approach 30-year high |url= http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020475301_apustaxingtherich.html|access-date=April 3, 2013|newspaper=The Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |date=March 3, 2013}}</ref> There is debate over whether taxes should be more or less progressive.<ref name=YglesiasWealth /><ref name=BairParity>{{cite news|last=Bair|first=Sheila|title=Grand Old Parity|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/opinion/republicans-must-bridge-the-income-gap.html|access-date=March 18, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 26, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hodge|first1=Scott A.|title=The Case for a Single-Rate Tax: Why Our Progressive Tax Code is Inconsistent with the Changing Face of American Taxpayers|url=http://taxfoundation.org/article/case-single-rate-tax-why-our-progressive-tax-code-inconsistent-changing-face-american-taxpayers|publisher=Tax Foundation|access-date=August 13, 2014|date=April 29, 2005|archive-date=December 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222115717/http://taxfoundation.org/article/case-single-rate-tax-why-our-progressive-tax-code-inconsistent-changing-face-american-taxpayers|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Frank|first1=Robert|title=The Price of Taxing the Rich: The top 1% of earners fill the coffers of states like California and New York during a boom – and leave them starved for revenue in a bust|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704604704576220491592684626|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=August 13, 2014|date=March 26, 2011}}</ref>

According to the [[Tax Justice Network]] in 2022, the US fuels more global [[Financial Secrecy Index|financial secrecy]] than [[Banking in Switzerland|Switzerland]], Cayman and Bermuda combined.<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2022">{{cite web | title=Switzerland ranked second-worst global facilitator of tax avoidance | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=May 18, 2022 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/switzerland-ranked-second-worst-global-facilitator-of-tax-avoidance/47603522 | access-date=June 28, 2022}}</ref>