REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
Comments on income taxes based on 2005 numbers, the latest available from the IRS:
"...for all the drama about the Bush tax cuts, the reality is that our tax burden is about the same today as it was before Bill Clinton was elected president. In the 7 years before B.C., our average tax rate was 13.86 percent. In 1992 we paid taxes at an average rate of 13.7 percent--- about the same as the 13.6 percent we are now paying.
During the eight years Bill Clinton was in office, the average tax rate rose from 14.1 percent (1993) to 16.1 percent (2000). In the Bush years since then, the average tax rate has declined from 15.2 percent to 13.6 percent."
------------
"Today, fewer people pay income taxes. In 1986 Americans filed 103 million federal income tax returns. Of those, 84 million had to pay some taxes. That’s 81.5 percent of all returns. By the time Bill Clinton took office, the percentage of filers paying taxes had declined to 75 percent. During the Bush years, the percentage of filers who paid taxes continued to decline. It fell to only 67.4 percent in 2005."
-----------
"Today, the rich pay more; the poor pay less. Bush tax rate cuts notwithstanding, those with high incomes continue to pay at much higher tax rates than those with lower incomes. They also pay much more of the total tax bill, a reality that has escaped both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Only 953,000 taxpayers--- about 1 percent of the total who paid taxes--- paid at the top 35 percent tax rate in 2005. They paid $315.4 billion in taxes on their $1,094 billion in income.
The most common marginal tax rate is 15 percent. That’s the rate paid by 54.4 million taxpayers. This means the typical taxpayer pays at less than half the tax rate of the top earners. The second most common marginal tax rate is 10 percent. About 25.5 million taxpayers pay taxes at that rate. This group pays taxes at one-third the rate paid by the highest-income taxpayers. So of the two-thirds of all households that pay anything in income taxes, about three-quarters pay at 15 percent or less.
Another 22 million, 3.7 million and 1.5 million households pay income taxes at marginal rates of 25, 28 and 33 percent, respectively. In the year 2000 this top 25 percent of all taxpaying filers paid a whopping 83.6 percent of all income taxes. By 2005 they paid 85.6 percent of all taxes. So in spite of tax rate cuts for the well-off, the share of taxes paid by the well-off has risen.
What does this all mean?
Simple. When political talk turns to tax “fairness,” none of the candidates mentions where a high income begins. So I thought you might want to know. You were in the top 25 percent of taxpayers in 2005 if your taxable income exceeded $61,055.
Millions of Americans have no idea what fat cats they are."
The Truth about Income Taxes
"...for all the drama about the Bush tax cuts, the reality is that our tax burden is about the same today as it was before Bill Clinton was elected president. In the 7 years before B.C., our average tax rate was 13.86 percent. In 1992 we paid taxes at an average rate of 13.7 percent--- about the same as the 13.6 percent we are now paying.
During the eight years Bill Clinton was in office, the average tax rate rose from 14.1 percent (1993) to 16.1 percent (2000). In the Bush years since then, the average tax rate has declined from 15.2 percent to 13.6 percent."
------------
"Today, fewer people pay income taxes. In 1986 Americans filed 103 million federal income tax returns. Of those, 84 million had to pay some taxes. That’s 81.5 percent of all returns. By the time Bill Clinton took office, the percentage of filers paying taxes had declined to 75 percent. During the Bush years, the percentage of filers who paid taxes continued to decline. It fell to only 67.4 percent in 2005."
-----------
"Today, the rich pay more; the poor pay less. Bush tax rate cuts notwithstanding, those with high incomes continue to pay at much higher tax rates than those with lower incomes. They also pay much more of the total tax bill, a reality that has escaped both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Only 953,000 taxpayers--- about 1 percent of the total who paid taxes--- paid at the top 35 percent tax rate in 2005. They paid $315.4 billion in taxes on their $1,094 billion in income.
The most common marginal tax rate is 15 percent. That’s the rate paid by 54.4 million taxpayers. This means the typical taxpayer pays at less than half the tax rate of the top earners. The second most common marginal tax rate is 10 percent. About 25.5 million taxpayers pay taxes at that rate. This group pays taxes at one-third the rate paid by the highest-income taxpayers. So of the two-thirds of all households that pay anything in income taxes, about three-quarters pay at 15 percent or less.
Another 22 million, 3.7 million and 1.5 million households pay income taxes at marginal rates of 25, 28 and 33 percent, respectively. In the year 2000 this top 25 percent of all taxpaying filers paid a whopping 83.6 percent of all income taxes. By 2005 they paid 85.6 percent of all taxes. So in spite of tax rate cuts for the well-off, the share of taxes paid by the well-off has risen.
What does this all mean?
Simple. When political talk turns to tax “fairness,” none of the candidates mentions where a high income begins. So I thought you might want to know. You were in the top 25 percent of taxpayers in 2005 if your taxable income exceeded $61,055.
Millions of Americans have no idea what fat cats they are."
The Truth about Income Taxes
(
