Top 50% of Wage Earners Pay 96.09% of Income Taxes |
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October 23, 2002
The IRS has released the year 2000 data for individual income tax returns. The numbers illustrate a truth that will startle you: that half of Americans with the highest incomes pays 96.09% of all income tax. This nukes the liberal lie that the rich don't pay taxes. The top 1%, who earn 20.81% of all income covered under the income tax, are paying 37.42% of the federal tax bite. | |
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*Data covers calendar year 2000, not fiscal year 2000 - and includes all income, not just wages, excluding Social Security | |
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Think of it this way: less than four dollars out of every $100 paid in income taxes in the United States is paid by someone in the bottom 50% of wage earners. Are the top half millionaires? Noooo, more like "thousandaires." The top 50% were those individuals or couples filing jointly who earned $26,000 and up in 1999. (The top 1% earned $293,000-plus.) Americans who want to are continuing to improve their lives - and those who don't want to, aren't. Here are the wage earners in each category and the percentages they pay:
Top 5% - 56.47% of all income taxes; Top 10% - 67.33% of all income taxes; Top 25% - 84.01% of all income taxes. Top 50% - 96.09% of all income taxes. The bottom 50%? They pay a paltry 3.91% of all income taxes. The top 1% is paying more than ten times the federal income taxes than the bottom 50%! And who earns what? The top 1% earns 20.81% of all income. The top 5% earns 35.30% of the pie. The top 10% earns 46.01%; the top 25% earns 67.15%, and the top 50% earns 87.01% of all the income. | |
OK....all that said and summerized for you, you can look at the raw data direct from the IRS right here if you want to check the math:
Table 1. - Individual Income Tax Returns with Positive Adjusted Gross Income (AGI): Number of Returns, Shares of AGI andTotal Income Tax, AGI Floor on Percentiles in Current and Constant Dollars, and Average Tax Rates, by Selected Descending Cumulative Percentiles of Returns Based on Income Size Using the Definition of AGI for Each Year, Tax Years 1986-2000 [All figures are estimates based on samples] Descending cumulative percentiles
Year: Total..................Top 1%............Top 5%.........Top 10%.......Top 25%..........Top 50%
Number of returns: [1] 1986: 102,087,623......1,020,876......5,104,381......10,208,762......25,521,906......51,043,811 1987: 106,154,761......1,061,548......5,307,738......10,615,476......26,538,690......53,077,380 1988: 108,872,859......1,088,729......5,443,643......10,887,286......27,218,214......54,436,429 1989: 111,312,721......1,113,127......5,565,636......11,131,272......27,828,181......55,656,361 1990: 112,812,262......1,128,123......5,640,613......11,281,226......28,203,066......56,406,132 1991: 113,804,104......1,138,041......5,690,205......11,380,410......28,451,026......56,902,052 1992: 112,652,759......1,126,528......5,632,638......11,265,276......28,163,190......56,326,380 1993: 113,681,387......1,136,814......5,684,069......11,368,139......28,420,347......56,840,694 1994: 114,989,920......1,149,899......5,749,496......11,498,992......28,747,480......57,494,960 1995: 117,274,186......1,172,742......5,863,709......11,727,419......29,318,546......58,637,093 1996: 119,441,767......1,194,418......5,972,088......11,944,177......29,860,442......59,720,884 1997: 121,503,284......1,215,033......6,075,164......12,150,328......30,375,821......60,751,642 1998: 123,775,831......1,237,758......6,188,792......12,377,583......30,943,958......61,887,915 1999: 126,008,974......1,260,090......6,300,449......12,600,897......31,502,244......63,004,487 2000: 128,227,143......1,282,271......6,411,357......12,822,714......32,056,786......64,113,572
Adjusted gross income floor on percentiles (current dollars): 1986: N/A......118,818......62,377......48,656......32,242......17,302 1987: N/A......139,289......68,414......52,921......33,983......17,768 1988: N/A......157,136......72,735......55,437......35,398......18,367 1989: N/A......163,869......76,933......58,263......36,839......18,993 1990: N/A......167,421......79,064......60,287......38,080......19,767 1991: N/A......170,139......81,720......61,944......38,929......20,097 1992: N/A......181,904......85,103......64,457......40,378......20,803 1993: N/A......185,715......87,386......66,077......41,210......21,179 1994: N/A......195,726......91,226......68,753......42,742......21,802 1995: N/A......209,406......96,221......72,094......44,207......22,344 1996: N/A......227,546......101,141......74,986......45,757......23,174 1997: N/A......250,736......108,048......79,212......48,173......24,393 1998: N/A......269,496......114,729......83,220......50,607......25,491 1999: N/A......293,415......120,846......87,682......52,965......26,415 2000: N/A......313,469......128,336......92,144......55,225......27,682
Adjusted gross income floor on percentiles (constant dollars): [2] 1986: N/A......108,411......56,913......44,394......29,418......15,786 1987: N/A......122,614......60,224......46,585......29,915......15,641 1988: N/A......132,828......61,484......46,861......29,922......15,526 1989: N/A......132,152......62,043......46,986......29,709......15,317 1990: N/A......128,096......60,493......46,126......29,135......15,124 1991: N/A......124,919......60,000......45,480......28,582......14,756 1992: N/A......129,654......60,658......45,942......28,780......14,828 1993: N/A......128,522......60,475......45,728......28,519......14,657 1994: N/A......132,069......61,556......46,392......28,841......14,711 1995: N/A......137,406......63,137......47,306......29,007......14,661 1996: N/A......145,026......64,462......47,792......29,163......14,769 1997: N/A......156,222......67,320......49,353......30,014......15,198 1998: N/A......164,427......69,999......50,775......30,877......15,553 1999: N/A......176,119......72,537......52,630......31,792......15,855 2000: N/A......182,038......74,527......53,510......32,070......16,075
Adjusted gross income (millions of dollars): 1986: 2,524,124......285,197......608,467......886,510......1,490,173......2,103,569 1987: 2,813,728......346,635......722,221......1,038,221......1,709,389......2,373,869 1988: 3,124,156......473,527......890,702......1,232,536......1,950,860......2,657,865 1989: 3,298,858......468,079......918,421......1,286,539......2,054,478......2,805,235 1990: 3,451,237......483,252......953,337......1,338,032......2,144,177......2,932,537 1991: 3,516,142......456,603......943,350......1,343,202......2,174,765......2,984,003 1992: 3,680,552......523,586......1,031,093......1,443,784......2,299,401......3,131,400 1993: 3,775,578......520,586......1,048,252......1,474,463......2,357,953......3,212,299 1994: 3,961,146......546,700......1,103,084......1,552,205......2,481,074......3,371,352 1995: 4,244,607......619,610......1,222,723......1,704,513......2,689,820......3,627,542 1996: 4,590,527......736,545......1,393,805......1,909,149......2,952,637......3,944,383 1997: 5,023,457......872,826......1,597,107......2,151,401......3,267,600......4,327,992 1998: 5,469,211......1,010,245......1,796,647......2,393,716......3,589,600......4,721,430 1999: 5,909,329......1,152,820......2,011,763......2,652,835......3,927,308......5,126,164 2000: 6,423,977......1,336,773......2,267,403......2,955,386......4,313,786......5,589,755
Descending cumulative percentiles Year: Total............Top 1%.....Top 5%.......Top 10%....Top 25%....Top 50%
Total income tax (millions of dollars): [3] 1986: 366,979......94,491......156,240......200,703......278,976......343,289 1987: 369,046......91,559......159,642......205,230......283,857......346,655 1988: 412,761......113,841......188,303......236,411......321,297......389,145 1989: 432,838......109,259......190,188......241,458......334,258......407,599 1990: 447,061......112,338......195,088......247,514......344,340......421,075 1991: 448,349......111,267......194,480......250,282......346,511......423,759 1992: 476,163......131,156......218,479......276,213......373,700......452,070 1993: 502,720......145,836......238,083......297,808......398,516......478,563 1994: 534,754......154,337......254,106......317,902......425,402......509,256 1995: 588,331......178,035......287,741......357,402......472,808......561,225 1996: 658,124......212,626......335,433......411,404......535,164......629,684 1997: 727,303......241,239......377,241......459,639......594,007......696,161 1998: 788,452......274,009......424,506......512,836......651,964......755,240 1999: 877,292......317,419......486,464......583,002......732,890......842,168 2000: 980,521......366,929......553,670......660,150......823,706......942,179
Average tax rate (percentage): [4] 1986: 14.54......33.13......25.68......22.64......18.72......16.32 1987: 13.12......26.41......22.10......19.77......16.61......14.60 1988: 13.21......24.04......21.14......19.18......16.47......14.64 1989: 13.12......23.34......20.71......18.77......16.27......14.53 1990: 12.95......23.25......20.46......18.50......16.06......14.36 1991: 12.75......24.37......20.62......18.63......15.93......14.20 1992: 12.94......25.05......21.19......19.13......16.25......14.44 1993: 13.32......28.01......22.71......20.20......16.90......14.90 1994: 13.50......28.23......23.04......20.48......17.15......15.11 1995: 13.86......28.73......23.53......20.97......17.58......15.47 1996: 14.34......28.87......24.07......21.55......18.12......15.96 1997: 14.48......27.64......23.62......21.36......18.18......16.09 1998: 14.42......27.12......23.63......21.42......18.16......16.00 1999: 14.85......27.53......24.18......21.98......18.66......16.43 2000: 15.26......27.45......24.42......22.34......19.09......16.86
Adjusted gross income share (percentage): 1986: 100.00......11.30......24.11......35.12......59.04......83.34 1987: 100.00......12.32......25.67......36.90......60.75......84.37 1988: 100.00......15.16......28.51......39.45......62.44......85.07 1989: 100.00......14.19......27.84......39.00......62.28......85.04 1990: 100.00......14.00......27.62......38.77......62.13......84.97 1991: 100.00......12.99......26.83......38.20......61.85......84.87 1992: 100.00......14.23......28.01......39.23......62.47......85.08 1993: 100.00......13.79......27.76......39.05......62.45......85.08 1994: 100.00......13.80......27.85......39.19......62.64......85.11 1995: 100.00......14.60......28.81......40.16......63.37......85.46 1996: 100.00......16.04......30.36......41.59......64.32......85.92 1997: 100.00......17.38......31.79......42.83......65.05......86.16 1998: 100.00......18.47......32.85......43.77......65.63......86.33 1999: 100.00......19.51......34.04......44.89......66.46......86.75 2000: 100.00......20.81......35.30......46.01......67.15......87.01
Total income tax share (percentage): 1986: 100.00......25.75......42.57......54.69......76.02......93.54 1987: 100.00......24.81......43.26......55.61......76.92......93.93 1988: 100.00......27.58......45.62......57.28......77.84......94.28 1989: 100.00......25.24......43.94......55.78......77.22......94.17 1990: 100.00......25.13......43.64......55.36......77.02......94.19 1991: 100.00......24.82......43.38......55.82......77.29......94.52 1992: 100.00......27.54......45.88......58.01......78.48......94.94 1993: 100.00......29.01......47.36......59.24......79.27......95.19 1994: 100.00......28.86......47.52......59.45......79.55......95.23 1995: 100.00......30.26......48.91......60.75......80.36......95.39 1996: 100.00......32.31......50.97......62.51......81.32......95.68 1997: 100.00......33.17......51.87......63.20......81.67......95.72 1998: 100.00......34.75......53.84......65.04......82.69......95.79 1999: 100.00......36.18......55.45......66.45......83.54......96.00 2000: 100.00......37.42......56.47......67.33......84.01......96.09
N/A-- Not applicable. [1] The number of returns with negative adjusted gross income, i.e., returns with an adjusted gross deficit, and the corresponding amounts for adjusted gross deficit, were excluded from Table 1. By excluding deficit returns, alternative minimum tax reported on some of these returns was also excluded. For Tax Year 2000, there were 5,714 returns with no adjusted gross income that reported income tax, mostly alternative minimum tax, totaling $100.6 million. [2] For Table 1, constant dollars were calculated using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index for urban consumers (CPI-U, 1982-84=100). For 2000 the CPI-U = 172.2 [3] Total income tax is the sum of income tax after credits and alternative minimum tax reported on returns that showed a positive amount for adjusted gross income. Therefore, total income tax excludes alternative minimum tax, Form 8814 tax (tax on a child's interest or dividends), and Form 4972 tax (tax on lump-sum distributions from qualified retirement plans) reported on some returns with a negative amount for adjusted gross income. See also footnote 1. [4] The average tax rate was computed by dividing total income tax (see footnote 3) by (positive) adjusted gross income.
Note: Unles otherwise stated, money amounts are in current (not constant) denominations.
Source: Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division, Unpublished Statistics, September 2002. | |
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