Sunday, May 04, 2008

Fat Cats

Scott Burns looks at the most recent IRS data and notes that, contrary to much of the inflammatory rhetoric about the Bush tax cuts helping the rich, the top 25% of income earners paid a higher percentage of total tax revenues than they did in the year prior to Mr. Bush taking office:

In 2000, the top 25 percent of all taxpaying filers paid a whopping 83.6 percent of all income taxes. By 2005, they paid 85.6 percent of all taxes. So in spite of tax rate cuts for the well-off, the share of taxes paid by the well-off has risen.

What does this all mean?

Simple. When political talk turns to tax "fairness," none of the candidates mentions where a high income begins. So I thought you might want to know. You were in the top 25 percent of taxpayers in 2005 if your taxable income exceeded $61,055.

Millions of Americans have no idea what fat cats they are.

Mr. Burns also notes that an increasing number of tax filers pay no income taxes at all, though they are responsible for payroll taxes.

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