“Their Fair Share” — In Screenshots
The top 20% of earners pay about 66% of all Federal Income Tax:
Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product:
U.S Individual Income Tax: Tax Rates for Regular Tax: Highest Bracket:
U.S Individual Income Tax: Tax Rates for Regular Tax: Lowest Bracket:
High earners pay more of federal taxes:
Income:
* Our household’s total annual realized (taxable) income is $131,000 (median, or 50th percentile), while our average income is $247,000. Note that those of us who have incomes in the $500,000 to $999,999 category (8 percent) and the $1 million or more category (5 percent) skew the average upward.
Housing:
* Most of us (97 percent) are homeowners. We live in homes currently valued at an average of $320,000. About half of us have occupied the same home for more than twenty years. Thus, we have enjoyed significant increases in the value of our homes.
Savings:
* We are fastidious investors. On average, we invest nearly 20 percent of our household realized income each year. Most of us invest at least 15 percent. Seventy-nine percent of us have at least one account with a brokerage company. But we make our own investment decisions.
So the next time you hear someone on their soap-box preaching about doubling the top marginal tax rate just remember who is going to pay it (no one) and what it actually means to be “wealthy” in the US. Before waxing poetic about the “good ole’ days” of 90% marginal rates, step back and actually think about what it means, mathematically, not romantically.
