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Posts: 411
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011
Location: Carlsbad, California
Division: Battlefield 3
Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:31 am
Re: This bill must not pass.
do also agree with you somewhat. It is difficult to see the sky through the trees, especially when you're buried in debt caused by social inequities and regressive tax rates. In 2007 the bottom 20% of families (the people making the least money) paid 17% of their annual income toward taxes. The top 1% didn't even pay 3% of their annual income toward taxes. The top 20% (the people making the most money) which includes the top 1% obviously didn't even pay a third of the percentage that the bottom 20% pays.
Correction -
Fact - Nearly 50% of Americans pay no taxes at all
FROM NPR, and we know how "Objective" they are.....
It turns out that nearly half of all Americans don't have to pay any federal income tax. In 2009, 47 percent of all filers paid nothing. It's a number that's gone up significantly in just a couple of years. Robert Siegel talks to Roberton Williams, who's been crunching the numbers at the Tax Policy Institute in Washington. According to Williams, millions escape filing because their incomes are too low or they're eligible for deductions, credits and exemptions.
The latest data show that a big portion of the federal income tax burden is shoulÂdered by a small group of the very richest Americans. The wealthiest 1 percent of the population earn 19 perÂcent of the income but pay 37 percent of the income tax. The top 10 percent pay 68 percent of the tab. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent—those below the median income level—now earn 13 percent of the income but pay just 3 percent of the taxes. These are proportions of the income tax alone and don’t include payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare
Do the rich pay more taxes because they are earning more of the income in America?
Yes. There’s no doubt that the share of total income earned by the wealthy has increased steadily over the past 25 years. Since 1980, the share of income earned by the richest 1 percent has more than doubled, from 9 percent to 19 percent. The share of the income going to the poorest income quintile has declined. Income disparities, in absolute dollars, have grown substantially.
What is significant is that for the top 5 percent and 10 percent of earners, the ratio of taxes paid compared with income earned has risen. For example, in 1980, the top 10 percent earned 32 percent of the income and paid 44 percent of the taxes—a ratio of 1.4. In 2004, this group earned more of the income (44 percent) but paid a lot more of the taxes (68 percent)—a ratio of 1.6. In other words, progressivity—in terms of share of total taxes paid—has risen. On the other hand, for the top 1 percent of earners, progressivity has declined from a ratio of 2.2 in 1980 to 1.9 in 2004.
The full NPR interview:
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Taxes are commonly referred to as one of life's certainties. You know what the other one is. And tomorrow is when Americans pay their federal income taxes. For many of us, the biggest single tax bill we see is at the bottom of an IRS 1040 form. For many of us, but not for all of us.
For many Americans, the Social Security and Medicare taxes take a bigger chunk of their income than the income tax does. And for quite a few Americans, that's a low threshold to clear since they don't pay any federal income tax at all.
Roberton Williams is a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, used to work on tax analysis at the Congressional Budget Office. And Mr. Williams' finding has gone viral. Let me ask you, now, how many Americans don't pay any federal income tax? And generally speaking, who are those people?
Mr. ROBERTON WILLIAMS (Senior Fellow, Tax Policy Center): By our estimate, about 47 percent of Americans will not pay any federal income tax for 2009. The people involved in that tend to be families with children, the elderly, low income households, those who either have too little income to pay taxes or who benefit enough from all the deductions, credits and exemptions in the income tax, so they're zeroed out on the bottom line of their 1040.
SIEGEL: And that number, 47 percent, is up from just a couple of years ago. What's the trend? By how much is it up and why?
Mr. WILLIAMS: Well, in 2007, just 38 percent of Americans didn't pay tax. It jumped to 49 percent for 2008, and 47 percent this year, primarily because of the stimulus bills that we've put in place trying to get the economy going again. In 2008, President Bush's stimulus payments sent $600 to individuals, $1,200 to couples, plus a little bit more if you had kids, and that all showed up as a tax reduction when you filed your income taxes.
This year we have the 2009 stimulus, which includes making work pay. Almost every American who works got benefit from that and a few other things that bring down tax bills.
SIEGEL: Now, let's look at this from the other end. If we take the higher income taxpayers, how much of the income tax do the taxpayers with the highest incomes pay?
Mr. WILLIAMS: Well, if we take a look at people with incomes, say, over $500,000. That's about one percent of all Americans. And the total share of taxes that they pay is about 24 percent. They have about 16 percent, 17 percent of income. They pay about half again that much share of taxes.
SIEGEL: And if we looked at, say, the top 20 percent, the top fifth of all incomes in the U.S., who would that be and how much do they pay?
Mr. WILLIAMS: The top fifth starts a little bit above $100,000. That group makes about 56 percent of all income and pay about 70 percent of all taxes.
SIEGEL: So when it comes to the federal income tax, at least, we have a progressive system. The more you make, the more you pay. The less you make, the less you pay. But we pay other taxes, most notably the federal payroll tax. How many Americans pay more in payroll tax, FICA tax, than in income tax?
Mr. WILLIAMS: If you consider both the share paid by the employee and by the employer, which most economists think is borne by the employee, about 75 to 80 percent of us pay more payroll tax than income tax. Only 13 percent don't pay either one of the taxes a far cry from the 47 percent who get out of the income tax.
SIEGEL: And for what percent is there actually a negative income tax? What percent is actually benefitting from, say, the earned income tax credit so that the federal government is giving them money?
Mr. WILLIAMS: We estimate perhaps 40 percent of more of Americans are getting some money back. That's because we've made a number of the credits refundable. So if it takes your taxes down to zero, it can take it below zero and result in a payment.
SIEGEL: Well, Mr. Williams, thank you very much for talking with us about it today.
Mr. WILLIAMS: It was my pleasure.
SIEGEL: That's Roberton Williams, senior fellow of the Tax Policy Center. That's a research think tank here in Washington, D.C. He used to work on tax analysis issues at the Congressional Budget Office.
After Kennedy, the Democrats beat the class warfare drum long and hard. They couldn't do it with John kennedy in office because he was the 60's version of a Blue Dog Democrat. The Dems have legislated so that almost ALL the taxxes come fron the top 25% of wage earners and corporations. But that well of cash isn't endless, and it is because of reckless taxation polices driving businesses abroad, unbridled government expansion, and public pension programs that are totally unsustainable, that we find ourselves in the situation we are in.
I'm for everyman/woman.....but EVERYONE should pay their fair share!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which is why I support a flat tax where everyone pays according to the level of consumption....not their income!
BTW - I do not want to get into a big friggin debate over this. I have studied business management, lean management, Accounting, and economics for more than 30 years. I have a lot of data to back up what I'm saying.
Key point in time 1...1944...Bretton Woods Accords
Key point in time 2...1971....August 15th 1971 to be exact....Nixon took us off the Gold Standard. (look into WHY he did)
One thing I know about guys....its money.
How it works, how it is eschanged, and what it is worth.
Ever here of FIAT money? ........look in your wallet.
Max Res
BikerDog
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