Joe the Plumber is the topic of discussion today in American politics following last night's debate. After asking Sen. Obama a question on the campaign trail about how Obama's taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. plan would affect him, only to get a response that included "share the wealth," Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher is in the midst of his fifteen minutes of fame. John McCain brought up the man's name in last night's debate to explain why voters should support his tax plan.
Whether he would pay more in taxes under McCain's tax plan or Obama's tax plan when making $280,000 (assuming that's AGI) is unclear given the complexity of the tax system and the candidates' tax plans (in addition to their health care plans). It is most likely, however, that he would face a higher marginal tax rateThe marginal tax rate is the amount of additional tax paid for every additional dollar earned as income. The average tax rate is the total tax paid divided by total income earned. A 10 percent marginal tax rate means that 10 cents of every next dollar earned would be taken as tax. under Obama than McCain, meaning additional income going forward would be taxed more under Obama than McCain.
But it turns out that maybe it doesn't matter to Joe. It turns out that Joe may actually owe back taxes in his home state of Ohio. Here's the Politico:
ShareJoe the Plumber really is no fan of paying taxes.
According to records from the Lucas County (OH) Court of Common Pleas found by my colleague Avi Zenilman, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher has a lien placed against him to the tune of $1,182.92.
The lien is dated from January of '07.