[Tublecane]

“The rules are the same for everyone”

Wrong. Different rates for different incomes means different rules for different people.

“The outcome of the application of the rules”

I don’t know where you’re coming from with this formulation. It’s not that the rates are different outcomes for the same rule. That doesn’t make any sense. The income class comes first. It determines which rule applies. If you make so-and-so one rule applies. If something else, you get another rule. This notion you have that there’s one rule makes no sense.

[DaveInDallas]

Different rates for different incomes means different rules for different people.

I don't think you understand how the tax brackets work. All married couples filing jointly pay 10% of taxable income up to $17400, all married couples filing jointly pay 15% of taxable income between $17400 and $70400, etc. There is no different handling of taxable income below $17400, no different handling of taxable income between $17400 and $70400, etc.

[Darth Reardon]

When I was a kid, I made minimum wage and paid little, if anything, in taxes. Over time, I worked up to making a decent amount and paying a lot more than my fair share. For most of this year, I chose not to work, so I will pay very little. I have moved freely throughout the various marginal tax rates, but at no time did the rules themselves change due to my actions.

At no time were the rules any different for me than they were for you. If you had made the same decisions as I did, we would have paid the same amount. If I had made the same decisions as you did, we would have paid the same amount. Same for everyone in the country.

I don’t think it is anywhere near fair (and we’ll never have fairness when it comes to taxation). But the rules are applied equally to everyone.