Posted on 03/03/2008 1:50:11 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat
October 4, 2007
Data also show incomes growing across all percentile groups
For more information, contact: Nate Bailey at (202) 464-5102.
Washington, DC, October 4, 2007 - New data released by the IRS today offers interesting insights into the distributional spread of the federal income tax burden, new analysis by the Tax Foundation shows.
Summary of Federal Individual Income Tax Data, 2005 (updated October 2007)
|
|
Number of Returns |
AGI ($ millions) |
Income Taxes Paid ($ millions) |
Group's Share of Total AGI |
Group's Share of Income Taxes |
Income Split Point |
|
All Taxpayers |
132,611,637 |
$7,507,958 |
$934,703 |
100.00% |
100.00% |
- |
|
Top 1% |
1,326,116 |
$1,591,711 |
$368,132 |
21.20% |
39.38% |
above $364,657 |
|
Top 5% |
6,630,582 |
$2,683,934 |
$557,759 |
35.75% |
59.67% |
above $145,283 |
|
Top 10% |
13,261,164 |
$3,487,010 |
$657,085 |
46.44% |
70.30% |
above $103,912 |
|
Top 25% |
33,152,909 |
$5,069,455 |
$803,772 |
67.52% |
85.99% |
above $62,068 |
|
Top 50% |
66,305,819 |
$6,544,824 |
$906,028 |
87.17% |
96.93% |
above $30,881 |
|
Bottom 50% |
66,305,818 |
963,134 |
28,675 |
12.83% |
3.07% |
below $30,881 |
Source: IRS
The table above shows that the top-earning 25 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $62,068) earned 67.5 percent of nation's income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (86 percent). The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income (as defined by AGI), yet paid 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1 percent of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95 percent of tax returns.
The IRS data also shows increases in individual incomes across all income groups. Just as the highest earners lost the biggest percentage of their incomes during the recession of 2001, so they have prospered the most as the economy has continued to rebound. In sum, between 2000 and 2005, pre-tax income for the top 1 percent group grew by 19.1 percent. In the same time period, pre-tax income for the bottom 50 percent increased by 15.5 percent.
This pattern of income loss and growth at the top of the income spectrum is the same during every recession and recovery. The net result has also been a sharp rise in federal government tax revenue from 2003-2005 compared to previous years.
Including all tax returns that had a positive AGI, those taxpayers with an AGI of $145,283 or more in 2005 constituted the nation's top 5 percent of earners. To break into the top 1 percent, a tax return had to have an AGI of $364,657 or more. These numbers are up significantly from 2003 when the equivalent thresholds were $130,080 and $295,495. Top incomes in 2005 are also continuing to surpass the peak they reached in 2000. At the height of the boom and bubble, $313,469 was the threshold to break into the top 1 percent, and then it fell to $285,424 in 2002 only to finally recover fully last year.
The IRS data includes all of the 132.6 million tax returns filed in 2005 that had a positive AGI, not just the returns from people who earn enough to owe taxes. From other IRS data, we can see that 90.6 million of the tax returns came from people who paid taxes into the Treasury. That leaves 42 million tax returns filed by people with positive AGI who used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to completely wipe out their federal income tax liability. Not only did they get back every dollar that the federal government withheld from their paychecks during 2005; but some even received more back from the IRS. This is a result of refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which are not included in the aggregate percentile data here.
The nonpartisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation has monitored tax policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. Best known for its annual calculation of Tax Freedom Day®, the Tax Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization.
- end -
©2008 Tax Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
"New Data" is relative, I know this was published last October. But who was listening then?
With tax season in full swing right now, we have to show this to our fellow citizens, folks! Especially the ones who want to buy into Hussein and Hitlery's "tax the rich" mantra!
Good luck, and I hope this is useful!
But according to the libs, the rich don’t pay their fair share.
There’s facts...and then there’s whatever the libs spew.
Most people would gladly change places with them.
To all democrat lurkers -
The risk with this wildly unbalanced tax burden is that if you tax the top 1% even more (which all socialists would like to do)...they simply leave, taking their tax revenue and the jobs that they have created with them.
Then, you’re left with expensive programs and no one to pay for them.
Replacing federal income taxes with a consumption tax via The Fair Tax Act will result in taxes being collected from a wider tax base thereby reducing the tax burden and more importantly giving people the power to decide how much and how often they are taxed. Fair Tax ping!
I have been moving production of a new product (and new company) to China.
Actually, I conceived of the idea, then formed a Bahmian company, and all the work will occur in China.
The products will be sold by a Mexican intermediary to oil companies in the USA.
I will never repatriate the money; and I will never pay US taxes.
It’s about 100 jobs.
It’s about having people be motivated to getting there themselves. It’s incredibly hard to achieve that. It takes enourmous work, energy, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit. If all it is for in order to fund government programs, far less people than could will achieve, and we’re all worse off.
Your statement smacks of class envy. If you want more money go take some risks and earn it. At least the opportunties in this country are endless. I’ve come here with a shirt on my back, and am working hard on getting to that 1%. Furthemore, I’ve met people who’vs made millions without even having had a high school degree. So noone can tell me there isn’t opportunity.
“But according to the libs, the rich don’t pay their fair share.
There’s facts...and then there’s whatever the libs spew.”
The chart neglected to show that the bottom 25% not only do not pay taxes, they receive what’s known as the “earned income tax credit which can vary between about $1,000 to @2,000 per filer depending upon number of dependents. Then, there are other entitlements too numerous to list. Whenever a lib starts talking about tax cuts for the “working poor” they’re really talking about increasing their tax credits - being that these people do not pay any out of pocket taxes in the first place. Pure socalist redisribution of wealth scheme. Personally, it’s my belief that everyone should pay some net taxes, even if only $100 just so to feel the sting....
Good for you. I hope more minor Atlases will shrug or move production elsewhere.
Read the article I linked to in post #4.
“Don’t go into corporate America”
-Michelle Obama
“The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.”[H. L. Mencken]
California comes to mind...
ping
they do pay a payroll tax. The point of eitc is to offset fica.
Now you might ask “why pay fica only to get it back in the end?” aha good question. It is part of the social security illusion that you are contributing to your special retirement fund when you are really paying for someone else’s retirement.
I wish SOMEONE... ANYONE in Washington DC would show this chart at a press conference and explain it to the Great Unwashed.
President Bush would be a good start.
right on.
You are assuming that the top 10% made their money by risk taking rather than inheritance. Perhaps, perhaps not. Those who came here with just the shirt on their back and were well rewarded for their efforts and risk taking are probably not the ones complaining.
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