Finally overcoming the fear of being labeled 'liberal', the media begin to report the truth on taxes
Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically
(AP) – 13 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Still scrambling to file your taxes? You'll probably take little consolation in hearing that the super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago. And nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all.
The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.
Over the same period, the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined to 9.3 percent from 9.9 percent.
The top income tax rate is 35 percent, so how can people who make so much pay so little in taxes? The nation's tax laws are packed with breaks for people at every income level. There are breaks for having children, paying a mortgage, going to college, and even for paying other taxes. Plus, the top rate on capital gains is only 15 percent.
There are so many breaks that 45 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
(Continued here. See also "Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically" from Salon.)
(AP) – 13 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Still scrambling to file your taxes? You'll probably take little consolation in hearing that the super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago. And nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all.
The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.
Over the same period, the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined to 9.3 percent from 9.9 percent.
The top income tax rate is 35 percent, so how can people who make so much pay so little in taxes? The nation's tax laws are packed with breaks for people at every income level. There are breaks for having children, paying a mortgage, going to college, and even for paying other taxes. Plus, the top rate on capital gains is only 15 percent.
There are so many breaks that 45 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
(Continued here. See also "Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically" from Salon.)
Labels: income tax
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2 Comments:
One should be concerned about anyone who has income and does not pay at least some taxes (rich and poor). I do not like the rich avoiding taxes but have a question – the Democrats had two years to do something about it when they controlled of the WH and congress for two years, why no action? More concerning than the few thousand taxpayers who avoid taxes are the millions of voters, primarily liberal, who have no tax liability and can essentially can vote themselves more and more government at no cost to themselves. As the saying goes, a government that robs Peter to pay Paul can count on the support of Paul.
If you haven't already read the Loopland article, take just a minute to review the graphs ... heck, read the whole article ... it won't take you but three minutes.
It's not just the "super-rich" paying less in taxes ... but the change in taxes paid by corporations.
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsiblity and Reform identified 75 different tax breaks and 30 different tax credits offered to business, calling this system “a patchwork of overly complex and inefficient provisions that creates perverse incentives for investment.”
The result ... Back in the 1950s, corporate income taxes made up 23 percent of federal revenues. Now that figure is under 8 percent. Put another way, corporate taxes were between 5 to 6 percent of GDP when Eisenhower was in office, but have since fallen to 2 percent today.
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