It's been many years since I have had to take an exam, so why don't you give us the answer?People with questions about taxes typically post references to tax brackets, but it seems like marginal tax rates is commonly missed or underestimated.
Take this simple example: A couple, who each make $200,000 (W2) have a 2 year old and have $10,000 in LTCG. They fall well within the 15% LTCG tax rate so I think a lot on here would think the LTCG will cost them $1,500. However, any guesses on the real impact and their LTCG tax rate?
I think your point you are trying to make is that the tax code is complicated and your actual marginal tax rate might be different than what is in the tax bracket. There are so many phase-ins, phase-outs, special tax rules (like NIIT in your example) that might impact that.
I think most BH are aware of this as a concept. However, I would suspect that not many have a complete grasp on ALL of them. I would go so far as to say that probably most CPA's don't either. That's what tax software is there for.
So what is YOUR recommendation? What do you hope to get out of this post that would be actionable to you or to others?
Statistics: Posted by humblecoder — Fri Jan 23, 2026 11:17 am — Replies 12 — Views 496