Tax cuts benefit all taxpayers

To the editor:

After reading a recent letter about tax cuts, I have to beg to differ with the conclusion that only the rich have gotten tax relief.

The writer said, "A married family filing jointly with a combined taxable income of $56,800 pays 25 percent" and went on with some non-income tax-related stuff on Social Security and Medicare. Actually, every dollar of taxable income above $56,800 is taxed at 25 percent. Income up to $14,000 is taxed at 10 percent. The rate from $14,000 to $56,800 is 15 percent.

In 2003, a married family filing jointly with a combined taxable income of $56,800 pays $7,820 in federal tax (calculated rate of 13.77 percent). In 2002, that same family would have paid $9,132 in federal tax (calculated rate of 16.08 percent). In 2000, that same family would have paid $10,203 (17.96 percent). After doing some other comparisons, it looks impossible for anyone paying federal income taxes to not have benefited from the tax cuts since 2001.

DAN O'NEIL

Cape Girardeau