Being a typical middle-class person, I hear a lot of people complain that the rich don't pay any taxes.
Biden says, it is the patriotic duty of rich people to pay more taxes.
Obama told "Joe the plumber" that he should pay more taxes to spread the wealth around.
So, do the rich pay taxes?
They indeed do pay taxes. The long arms of the IRS isn't letting them get away!
But, in the internet, many argue about whether or not the rich pay their "fair" share of taxes.
Fair of course is a pretty subjective term!
But take a look at these numbers and see what you think ...
Found this item from the Tax Policy Center.
That item is a little outdated (from 2000) and I'm curious if the numbers are still in the same ballpark. But it would appear that $65 of every $100 collected by the Federal government comes from the wealthiest 20% of the population. What I don't know from that table is whether these people make 65% of the money in the US economy.
This item is for 2004 put out by the Tax Foundation. Again the wealthy do pay more but whether they pay "enough" is something people will disagree on.
This item breaks it down by % of income earned in parallel with % of taxes paid for 2005. Here, scroll to page 2 for chart, it said the top 10% who make 46% of the income pay 70% of the taxes. HT: Tax Prof Blog. But of course, this only appears to cover only income tax. We do pay sales taxes, property taxes, social security taxes, etc.
5 comments:
Interesting info. Makes me feel kind of guilty. Last year, for the first time ever I made over 100k. I'm not saying this to boast. I paid less than $400 in federal income tax. Having five kids and a mortgage may have helped, but sometimes I wonder if I am paying my fair share. By the rest of the world's standards I'm rich. Guess I can't complain about those in the upper incomes are paying so much more than I. Tim M.
Interesting!
Is this $400 figure the total tax for the year?
Or is it on top of the tax already paid through payroll deduction?
Aside from income tax, I'm figuring you have a nice property tax bill on that home you have the mortgage on!
And you pay plenty of sale taxes on the various items you purchase for that home and for FIVE kids!
And there are gas taxes for the minivan (?) you might have to ferry FIVE kids to various events!
So I'm figuring you are "spreading the wealth" around somehow! 8-)
And how could I forget, there is the payroll tax for social security!
Most of what I had taken out of payroll I got back, less the $400. Paid a little over four grand in property tax and, of course all those other taxes that it would be interesting to ring up. I work for the county, we have our own retirement system, so I paid a small medicare tax, but no social security. Every body gets a piece of me, so I'm sure Uncle S. is as well. Tim M.
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