EXPLAINED: How Congress Quietly Raises Your Taxes (Without Raising Rates)

OMG Erin, you are Awesome. It’s amazing how you can break down complex issues and present them clearly and effectively. Commerce Secretary 2026?😊

Some items are not inexpensive linked e.g NIIT…

Squeezed in the paycheck, squeezed at the checkout, and squeezed in our taxes. Everybody is being pushed down economically.

The outtakes are amazing! Also, great content that I've been aware of for years, and it's great your shining light on it...but the outtakes made me LOL 😆

Thank you for sharing this relevant and sneaky method used to increase taxes without clear communication of how it’s being done. Erin once again you have explained it clearly. Keep it up.

There are too many government programs. So much corruption. The federal government needs to shrink by 50 percent. NOW. It can be done, but won't be due to so many corrupt people taking their cut. It's pure evil. NO ONE of us should be paying any income tax. And a flat tax on consumption should NEVER be more than 10 percent. It should be much lower. The reason the system won't change is because too many people with power are stealing from the masses. And they're driving it by buying votes with government hand outs.

Some of this can be itemized and exempted.

Hi Erin. You spent almost eight minutes telling us about a bad thing, chained CPI, then when you shared about government switching back to regular CPI, you negated it portraying it as a deficit promoter. I agree that we have to really look at details.

Long-term capital gains rates for 2025 for married filing joint returns are 0% for couple's incomes from $0 to $96,700.

Did this happen I. 2017??? Hmmm, which party had control of the white house, and congress, and senate?!?! Ohhh that's right... the repuglicons. 💩🤡 Keep voting against your own best interest. 🎉🎊

Washington will do anything that is underhanded, a lie, to get into the people's back pocket. Then we hear how they spend our money, or rather, steal it and give it to themselves, their families, and their friends and donators. It looks like they even make contributions to foreigners, and even our foreign enemies. I am sure it finds its way back to the corrupt criminals that we call politicians. This is good information, and it should prompt the people for accountability from the Washingtonians. DOGE, do something, don't just sit there. The justice system needs all the help it can get to trace every penny spent by Washington, and put the bad actors in prison. I suspect that they will have to build new prisons just to make space! Please, get on with it!

Consumption taxes are regressive, lower incomes spend exponentially more of their income on tariffed goods, Tariffs are a way to tax working Americans for failed "job creating" tax cuts to the wealthy that has created those jobs in China.

This sneaky change is partly why social security raises are between 1.3 and 2.5%, which MEDICARE takes half or more every year!

DemocRATS screw everyone.

You mean Trumps first tax cuts weren’t? Then it was followed by huge inflation that make it worse?

Looks like a screw job to me that people don't know about. Good information Erin!

I think the more likely thing happening is that our pay is going up at the chained CPI rate. We're not actually paying more in taxes (except sales), but crap just costs more of our income.

If you're paying taxes in the US, you're as dumb as you look

Does this affect the COLA for Social Security?

Still sounds like the MAGA GOP don't care about the average American, setting fire to our income and then wanting to get credit for fighting the fire they set when they bring a cup of water, "helping you fight the fire." But they are still helping the millionaires and billionaires. America needs to wake up.

Love the video. Thank you🔥🔥🔥😎

The GOP is ‘fixing’ what they themselves broke, along with allowing some deductions for state and local taxes. Here’s a thought: how about we make sure that grandma doesn’t get thrown off of Medicaid causing nursing homes to go out of business even for the rest of us, and then we should make sure the effective tax rate of millionaires and billionaires isn’t less than the effective rate of a school teacher. Trickle down always was a scam.

Seems to me they've found other ways to raise taxes without calling them taxes,namely ,Tariffs!!! Here's my logic (or lack there of), govt raises & collects tariffs, companies increase prices to offset tariffs,consumer pays higher prices, end result, everyone pays more money,govt takes in more money!!! And it may seem optional,how is not buying Anything an option?(I didn't read the 684 comments before me so my apologies if someone else posted this argument)

Very informative ..thank you

I got a lot out of this one -very interesting!

Is the tax rate on Klingon warriors

Wow - sometimes the government is openly corrupt and sometimes they are just creepy hidden corrupt!

Ty your glowing lady

As usual, you taught me something new. But what you find fascinating (how the tax rules work) is a blind spot I would wager to 99%+ of tax paying Americans. I wished there is a way to make tax system more transparent and easier to understand. That way, we know politicians are less likely to play games and if they do play games, hopefully the system will be simple and transparent enough that it would be obvious who's playing games

Define market is already starting to shake like a Christmas tree on fire. 20% inflation will finish us before Trump leaves office, and now it looks more likely than less likely. There is only one solution the same one that has been around for thousands of years. You better own gold and silver. Bitcoin will collapse like a house of cards when the stock market collapses it is always gone down first and fastest so don't count on that at all you will be very sorry.

Good job Erin! You made a complex, personally applicable, issue understandable to the average taxpayor.

🤬🤬 ITS CALLED INFLATION, FEES, TARIFFS, ETC. QUITE AND GO LIVE IN A VAN BY THE RIVER! BY MEXICO. REVERSE IMMIGRATION. ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE.

This is a sneaky way to implement Forbe’s flat tax proposal from the 90’s

This is why a majority of congressional representatives (on both sides) need to be voted out.

Brilliant video! I didn't realize how much was tied to chained CPI.

Debt added by President
Clinton: 5.81T (8 years)
Bush: 6.1T (8 years)
Obama: 8.34T (8 years)
Trump: 8.18T (4 years)
Biden: 6.17T (4 years)

"The power to tax is the power to destroy." The Constitution became null and void @1850 when the Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 requirement for the representative ratio to population/ voters was violated. 435 ×30,000 = 13, 050,000 voters - @1850. 150,000,000 recently voted meaning 136,950,000 were NOT represented and ALL acts of Congress, POTUS and SCOTUS are noise. The 13 colonies revolted in large part because of " no taxation without representation". Will there be another revolt? Naw, Americans are neither free nor brave. Start at start.

100 % OF POLI.TICKC.CIANS ARE CRIMINALS,! ALWAYS STEALING FROM THE PEOPLE

but what if my wage did not increase? actually went down? haha (it did)

I always find your videos informative and educational. It helps me to understand better. Thank you.

If I got something for the taxes I pay, I might not mind paying taxes. But I receive nothing while societal leaches receive the equivalent of more than I make in a year

Thanks for this powerful video! I always tell people: get involved in finance especially trading. It offers more control and faster growth than just holding assets. Tina Kristen McCallum’s trading program opened my eyes, and I couldn’t be more satisfied.

I love your blooper reel 😂😂😂 I film most of my videos outside and have to deal with construction, traffic, wind, barking dogs and OMG so much other noise all the time! I hear you girl!

@gund89123 Because our national debt is at an astronomical $37 trillion, the interest on that debt alone is actually bigger than our defense budget! Debt is wasteful because it leads to interest payments that make it difficult to cut taxes.

Great info! Definitely learned a lot today. So chained CPI means roth conversions now are even more useful that thought?

As always, when it comes to income taxes the US House of Representatives and the US Senate each work together to "cook the books". (smile ... smile)

An easier way to look at this is a) you pay 10% on 70000 b) You pay 2% ( 12-10) on (70K - 23.9K) ~46K and so on. Same math but easier to keep in the head.

@facelessman You missed the point.

Another way the government has increased its tax revenue without changing rates was by allowing investments firms to artificially inflate the prices of residential properties. "Oh we see your home is now worth an extra $300k. We're going to need to collect more property taxes on it now."