Who pays tax in America? Of individual (1040 returns) taxpayers, the distribution of taxes is interesting (2009 returns):
| Distribution of Taxes Top percentile of taxpayers | Percent of Federal Income Taxes Paid (2009 returns) | Minimum Adjusted Gross Income at this level |
| 99th percentile | 36.7% | $343,927 |
| 95th percentile | 58.7% | $154,643 |
| 90th percentile | 70.5% | $112,124 |
| On the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 50% of taxpayers…. | Paid 2.25% of the total Federal tax bill |
What does this mean? The top 10% of American earners pay 70% of the taxes, while the bottom 50% of earners pay only 2.25% of taxes. Is this fair? The answer depends upon who’s doing the talking. In light of conversations in Congress regarding raising taxes on the wealthy, I thought this was worth sharing.
This information is available in a number of spots – I am using the Kiplinger Tax Letter, Vo. 86, No. 21 (October 14, 2011) as my source material.
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