Guess who got fooled again.
You.
The rich pay a *lower* proportion of their income as tax than all but the very poorest,
I don't know if this is true in the UK. It is not true in the US.
"For 1999, the most recent year for which complete Internal
Revenue Service statistics are available, 6.3 million
taxpayers whose incomes were in the top 5 percent paid
more than 55 percent of all income taxes. They had incomes
above $120,846 a year -- meaning two spouses could each
earn a bit more than $60,000 and be considered among the
nation's richest.
"It's very easy to move into the top echelon of taxpayers,"
Hodge said.
The wealthiest 1 percent -- those earning $293,415 and up
-- paid more than a third of the taxes, and their share of the
nation's taxable income was 19 percent. They pay income
taxes at the top rate, now 38.6 percent, compared with a
maximum rate of 15 percent for the majority of
lower-earning taxpayers.
Taxpayers in the bottom half paid only 4 percent of the
income taxes in 1999, according to the IRS. These 63
million taxpayers earned, on average, less than $26,415 a
year."
seattlepi.nwsource.com
Do Tax Cuts Work?
The Mellon Tax Cut (1921-1925)
Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon urged taxes to be cut. They were slashed
across the board: The top rate of 73% was brought down to 25%; the bottom
rate went from 4% to 1.5%. The results? Tax revenues decreased for the poor
by 85%, and tax revenues from the rich increased over 100% [1]. This lead to
the largest expansion in peace-time history.
[1] Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income--1921-1925: Individual
Income Tax Returns; Tax Foundation.
The Kennedy Tax Cut (1963-1965)
Congress passed President Kennedy's tax cut in February of 1964 which
lowered the rates from the World War II-vintage 20%-91% range to 14%-70%.
The results? Among the poorest, tax revenues decreased 27% and among the
richest tax revenues increased 85% [2]. This lead to the longest expansion
in history.
[2] Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income--1963, 1964, 1965,
Individual Income Tax Returns; Tax Foundation.
The Reagan Tax Cut (1981)
Reagan proposed a 25% across-the-board tax cut in 1981. The results?
In 1981, the richest 1% paid 17.9% of the total income tax burden. In 1988,
they paid 27.6%. In 1981, the poorest paid 7.4% of the total income tax
burden while in 1988 they paid 5.7%. Throughout this, the middle class saw
their percentage go down from 57.2% in 1981, to 48.7% in 1988 [3]. This lead
to the longest expansion in peace-time history.
[3] Internal Revenue Service.
freedomcommittee.com |
