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A Facebook post shared tens of thousands of times claims that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wants to tax people making $15 an hour -- the minimum wage he is proposing -- at 52 percent. This is false; he has suggested that rate as an option for income over $10 million. Bernie’s Logic: ‘Nobody can live on $7 an hour. We must raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Also we must raise the tax rate to 52%,’ according to the post, shared here and here . $15 an hour x .52% = $7.80, it says. $15 an hour - $7.80 = $7.20. A screenshot of a Facebook post taken on February 27, 2020 Another version of the claim has been made on Twitter here . A screenshot of a tweet taken on February 27, 2020 Sanders has repeatedly called for the minimum wage to be increased to $15 an hour from its current federal rate of $7.25. He has also proposed a tax rate of 52 percent -- but not for people making $15 an hour. A section of his website explaining how he would pay for his various plans lists raising the top marginal income tax rate to 52% on income over $10 million as an option. Sanders also suggested the same marginal tax rate on income above $10 million during his 2016 run for president, according to an archived version of his website. Even if the rate for Americans making $15 an hour was 52 percent, not all of their earnings would be taxed at that level, as the false claims state. There is a standard deduction of $12,400 for individual filers in 2020, which means at least that amount of income would not be subject to taxes. Sanders has emerged as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. He is advocating using revenue from various tax increases on well-off Americans to pay for plans aimed at helping those with lower incomes. Have you seen content that you would like AFP USA to verify? Contact us E-mail
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