Who is this for? The “rich” or for everyone else?
An effective rate of 50-55% is obscene. I would relocate for anything approaching 40%.
In California - if you don't have a ton of mortgage interest deductions and you count state income tax - you're above 39.5% on $400k. If you count both sides of payroll tax, you're in the mid 40s. And even if you own a home, if you count property tax, you could be close to or above 50%.
The median state income tax is about half of California's at $400k - and property taxes here are somewhat low. Most places - you're gonna be above 40%.
1) Where do you live?
2) Are you in the top 1%?
3) In your location, what is the effective income tax rate for top 1%?
That would depend on how you classify 1%.
The effective tax rate for an individual earning $400k would be around 31%.
Like I said, even approaching 40% is obscene. 50-55% is absolute thievery. I would relocate from Texas if my effective tax was even close to 40%.