When collectively, we pay our Final Net Tax, the rich:
1. Pay a very high percentage of the total burden,
2. Pay an equally high final dollar amount.
StatementCredits, deductions, subsidies or any type of reduction on the way to that Final Net Tax allow for massive deceit, especially by Democratic politicians, and most Democratic constituents, who frequently engage in willful misunderstanding.
The middle class, from $30,122 and up, does not suffer at the hands of the rich. It does suffer at the hands of big government and its supporters.
Most Democratic politicians and their constituents, are advocates of big government and redistribution. They infer on a regular basis, that the rich are getting something through the government, as though government has its own money.
A little sampleWhen upper bracket taxpayers reduce their Final Net Tax, taking legal credits and deductions, they still shell out a fortune at the end of each year. Leftists incorrectly make references to how much the rich get at the expense of the poor and middle class.
There is zero truth to this.
Example. (Wealthy) taxpayer A, is single and has $500,000 of total income.
(Wealthy) gets credits totaling $15,000, for auto expense, entertaining clients and an IRA. This leaves $485,000 of taxable income, before getting to his itemized deductions.
(Wealthy) then has $100,000 of itemized deductions, which brings his taxable income to $375,000.
His Final Net Tax, is over $100,000.
No matter what credits or deductions he received, toward the completion of his tax return, his Final Net Tax, of $100,000 plus, is a "payment", and a steep one . He was given 0, nothing, nada.
This is his payment for income taxes only, he still has all the others.
130 million tax returns were filed for the year 2004, the latest year of available IRS statistics.
89 million of these are net taxpayers who foot the bill. The remaining 41 million had no Final Net Tax. Millions of these actually received money through the badly misnamed Earned Income Tax Credit, (EITC). Money was given to (EITC) recipients from the taxes paid by those with higher incomes. It works down to recipients but not up to taxpayers above them.
The total amount of income taxes paid in 2004 was $831 billion.
Dividing those who filed returns, into two halves, top half and bottom half, we see that the dividing line between the upper half and lower half starts at $30,122 of AGI-Adjusted Gross Income.
To simplify, there is some rounding.
1. Top half -AGI from $30,122 and up, paid 96.7 % of the total or $804 billion.
2. Bottom half -AGI from $30,122 or less paid 3.3% of the total or $ 27 billion.
Of that $804 billion total, let's start with the lowest group (in the upper half) and work our way up, to see who paid what.
The Final Net Tax-payment-of each group is in parentheses
If you are in the group that earned between $30,122 and $60,041, there are 33 million of you and your payment covered ($99 billion), of the $804 billion paid.
If you are in the group that earned between $60,041 and $99,112, there are 20 million of you and your payment covered ($139 billion), of the $804 billion paid.
If you are in the group that earned between $99,112 and $137,056, there are 6 :%$frac12; million of you and your payment covered ($92 billion) of the $804 billion paid.
If you are in the group that earned between $137,056 and $328,049, there are 5.2 million of you and your payment covered ($168 billion) of the $804 billion paid.
If you are in the group that earned over $328,049, there are 1.3 million of you and your payment covered ($307 billion) of the $804 billion.
2004 Total Income Taxes Paid=$831 billion
Paid by Top 50%--$804 billion
Paid by Bottom 50% $ 27 billion
Recap: Share of Total Tax Burden Paid By Top 50%Lowest -----33 million paid $ 99 billion
2nd lowest -20 million paid $ 139 billion
Middle----6 :%$frac12; million paid $ 92 billion
2nd highest 5.2 million paid $ 168 billion
Highest 1.3 million paid $ 307 billion
Total 65 million paid $ 804 billion
Share of Total Paid By Bottom 50%
65 million paid $ 27 billion
Total $ 27 billion
We should let our elected officials know, that deceit, over who pays what, is no longer acceptable. If congressmen stand for higher taxes and bigger government, they should defend that position with truth.
Attacks on those paying a very high share of the burden should cease.
Some try to confuse the above issue by bringing FICA or "payroll taxes" into the discussion. That subterfuge must be dealt with (exposed) separately.