The data comes from estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based research group, as Internal Revenue Service data for 2014 won’t be available for at least two years. Unlike IRS data, it includes information about nonfilers—both people who didn’t need to file and people who should have filed but didn’t. The total also includes Americans living overseas and others, which is why it is greater than the U.S. Census estimate of 319 million.
Another important difference: The income cited on the table includes untaxed amounts for employer-provided health coverage, tax-exempt interest and retirement-plan contributions and growth, among other things. This can be significant. On average, such benefits double the income of people in the bottom quintile and add more than 25% to the income of people in the top quintile, says Roberton Williams, an income-tax specialist at the Tax Policy Center. That means a taxpayer whose stated pay is $130,000 might be reaping another $35,000 annually in untaxed income.
“Most people focus on the income they see in their paychecks or portfolios and forget about untaxed benefits they receive,” Mr. Williams says.
The tables show just how progressive the income tax is. The three million people in the top 1% of earners pay nearly half the income tax.
Why is the share of income taxes negative for 40% of Americans? In recent decades Congress has chosen to funnel important benefits for lower-income earners through the income tax rather than other channels. Some of these benefits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Credit for education, make cash payments to people who don’t owe income tax.
People receiving such payments do pay other federal taxes, of course, such as those for Social Security and Medicare. If these taxes are included, the share of federal taxes paid by the lowest two quintiles turns positive.
How about rich people start paying their employees higher wages? Then those people will pay more in taxes. Problem solved.
Yeah, but if you got rid of minimum wage, the unemployment rate would plummet. Then in 2025 we'd get to hear fat cats call people making $4 an hour on contract, living in shacks, lazy parasites. It would be just like Mexico. They're a country I think we should all aspire to emulate.
If you hate the rich and successful you'll never be either
Yeah because America isnt a country of haves and have nots, it's a country of haves and soon to haves.
It's a country of whining victims I guess
It's true - I'm just not sure who whines more - rich people or poor people. ' Less whining - more working. Then everyone would have less time to whine, and less to whine about.
What's funny is that this country hit the sweet spot, taxation-wise, during the Clinton years. After Clinton's tax hike in 1992, Congress and the executive were able to start reining in spending (and some credit for that goes to the GOP, I might add) and making some sensible reforms to social spending. Suddenly we had surpluses as far as the eye could see, low unemployment, and things were looking pretty damn good. Even the recession brought on by the dot-com bust and the September 11 attack was fairly mild.
Then, we had the Bush tax cuts, which neither stimulated the economy nor created jobs. Then the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which were not paid for by appropriations, but which were waged with "contingency funding," which is to say made-up dollars minted from thin air. Then the 2008 bubble and collapse.
Since then, we had the Obama stimulus (too small to make much of an effect on the overall economy), and then the meat-cleaver of sequestration. Remember folks, discretionary federal spending isn't that much outside the military.
If you hate the rich and successful you'll never be either
Yeah because America isnt a country of haves and have nots, it's a country of haves and soon to haves.
It's a country of whining victims I guess
It's true - I'm just not sure who whines more - rich people or poor people. ' Less whining - more working. Then everyone would have less time to whine, and less to whine about.
This
My point was you won't become that which you think is evil. Your success doesn't effect me negative or positive. You can work hard and fail or work hard and succeed. No guarantees in life
What's funny is that this country hit the sweet spot, taxation-wise, during the Clinton years. After Clinton's tax hike in 1992, Congress and the executive were able to start reining in spending (and some credit for that goes to the GOP, I might add) and making some sensible reforms to social spending. Suddenly we had surpluses as far as the eye could see, low unemployment, and things were looking pretty damn good. Even the recession brought on by the dot-com bust and the September 11 attack was fairly mild.
Then, we had the Bush tax cuts, which neither stimulated the economy nor created jobs. Then the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which were not paid for by appropriations, but which were waged with "contingency funding," which is to say made-up dollars minted from thin air. Then the 2008 bubble and collapse.
Since then, we had the Obama stimulus (too small to make much of an effect on the overall economy), and then the meat-cleaver of sequestration. Remember folks, discretionary federal spending isn't that much outside the military.
Discretionary spending isn't the time bomb. Agree on the 90's but the cost of the wars has been grossly inflated for political reasons. Our yearly nut is over 4 trillion and that isn't sustainable and cutting defense won't fix it.
The problem is us. We want the other guys entitlement cut. We want the other guy to ride the bus so we have more room on the freeway. We fall for bullshit on a regular basis. We vote for idiots.
If you hate the rich and successful you'll never be either
Yeah because America isnt a country of haves and have nots, it's a country of haves and soon to haves.
It's a country of whining victims I guess
It's true - I'm just not sure who whines more - rich people or poor people. ' Less whining - more working. Then everyone would have less time to whine, and less to whine about.
This
My point was you won't become that which you think is evil. Your success doesn't effect me negative or positive. You can work hard and fail or work hard and succeed. No guarantees in life
Agree. Chances are, if you work hard, you won't fail -but if you do, you should quit sniveling and try again instead of looking for someone to blame.
Comments
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Less whining - more working. Then everyone would have less time to whine, and less to whine about.
Then, we had the Bush tax cuts, which neither stimulated the economy nor created jobs. Then the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which were not paid for by appropriations, but which were waged with "contingency funding," which is to say made-up dollars minted from thin air. Then the 2008 bubble and collapse.
Since then, we had the Obama stimulus (too small to make much of an effect on the overall economy), and then the meat-cleaver of sequestration. Remember folks, discretionary federal spending isn't that much outside the military.
My point was you won't become that which you think is evil. Your success doesn't effect me negative or positive. You can work hard and fail or work hard and succeed. No guarantees in life
The problem is us. We want the other guys entitlement cut. We want the other guy to ride the bus so we have more room on the freeway. We fall for bullshit on a regular basis. We vote for idiots.
As a boomer all I can say is
You're welcome
Placing blame doesn't pay the fuckin' bills.