There's a bracket in many countries (which I'm in) where you're taxed the maximum amount on your earnings, but still don't have enough to afford an accountant to find some loop holes for you.

Actually, the idea that government revenues consist solely of taxes is pretty much a middle class conception. The reason I mentioned Ferguson was that the DoJ report laid out how law enforcement and the legal system are used as revenue generators (in the case of Ferguson in an extremely racist way, but the point holds even in jurisdictions that aren't as racist). And in case you thought Ferguson got fixed: the police have been curtailed, but revenue generation has moved to building code violations.