sliprock
02-02-2003, 02:10 AM
I just wanted to add my two cents to the tax cut for the rich debate. The thread was kinda long so I started a new one so that this little bit of useful info wasn’t overlooked I’ve done a little looking and found a link to the IRS that shows who actually pays taxes.
You need excel to view the page, but it basically goes something like this…
If you earn $313,469 or more a year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners.
The top 1% earn 20.81% of all Income covered under the Income tax.
The top 1% pay 37.42% of the federal tax burden.
If you earn $128,336 a year, you fall in the top 5% of wage earners.
The top 5% earn 35.3% of all Income.
The top 5% pay 56.47% of the tax burden.
If you earn $92,144 a year, you fall in the top 10% of wage earners.
The top 10% earn 46.01% of all income.
The top 10% pay 67.33% of the tax burden.
If you earn $55,225 a year, you fall in the top 25% of wage earners.
The top 25% earn 67.15% of all income.
The top 25% pay 84.01% of the tax burden.
The top 50% make $27,682.
96.09% of the tax burden comes from the top 50% of wage earners.
These figures deal with personal income taxes only.
So, according to the IRS. 96.09% of the income tax burden is paid by the top 50% of wage earners. And as you can see, it doesn’t take much money to fall into those higher groups. If you listen to the news and the Democrats in Washington, you probably thought that the tax cut was targeting the millionaires, when in fact the working class that everybody keeps mentioning are the ones that will get the breaks. I’d venture to say that some people on this board that live in a two income household, have little problem getting into that top 5 or 10% group, maybe even the top 1%. I bet you didn’t know that you were so rich! If you’re like me, you don’t feel rich. Now that you know how rich you are, how do like knowing that you carry so much of the tax burden?
So, the next time you see a politician on the T.V. preaching about tax cuts for the rich, remember what it actually takes to be considered “rich” in this Great country. It’s nowhere near a million dollars.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/pub/irs-soi/00in01rt.xls
You need excel to view the page, but it basically goes something like this…
If you earn $313,469 or more a year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners.
The top 1% earn 20.81% of all Income covered under the Income tax.
The top 1% pay 37.42% of the federal tax burden.
If you earn $128,336 a year, you fall in the top 5% of wage earners.
The top 5% earn 35.3% of all Income.
The top 5% pay 56.47% of the tax burden.
If you earn $92,144 a year, you fall in the top 10% of wage earners.
The top 10% earn 46.01% of all income.
The top 10% pay 67.33% of the tax burden.
If you earn $55,225 a year, you fall in the top 25% of wage earners.
The top 25% earn 67.15% of all income.
The top 25% pay 84.01% of the tax burden.
The top 50% make $27,682.
96.09% of the tax burden comes from the top 50% of wage earners.
These figures deal with personal income taxes only.
So, according to the IRS. 96.09% of the income tax burden is paid by the top 50% of wage earners. And as you can see, it doesn’t take much money to fall into those higher groups. If you listen to the news and the Democrats in Washington, you probably thought that the tax cut was targeting the millionaires, when in fact the working class that everybody keeps mentioning are the ones that will get the breaks. I’d venture to say that some people on this board that live in a two income household, have little problem getting into that top 5 or 10% group, maybe even the top 1%. I bet you didn’t know that you were so rich! If you’re like me, you don’t feel rich. Now that you know how rich you are, how do like knowing that you carry so much of the tax burden?
So, the next time you see a politician on the T.V. preaching about tax cuts for the rich, remember what it actually takes to be considered “rich” in this Great country. It’s nowhere near a million dollars.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/pub/irs-soi/00in01rt.xls