Wealthy taxpayers paying more than their "fair share"
Posted October 19, 2010 9:38 AM
From the Editors
A recent analysis, conducted by the Center for Individual Freedom, of the latest IRS tax data shows that wealthy Americans are shouldering far more of the tax burden than liberals would have Americans believe:
"“The rich are not paying their fair share.”
"So said Hillary Clinton earlier this year, parroting one of the political left’s favorite canards. In fairness, perhaps she only meant to reference her own gilded marital syndicate with Bill.
"Regardless, she’s absolutely right, but in a very different manner than she intended. Wealthier Americans don’t pay their fair share of the nation’s income tax burden – they actually pay more than their fair share.
"Says who? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
"This month, the IRS released its annual summary of federal income tax data, including its breakdown of earnings and tax rate categories. Once again, the real-world numbers flatly contradict the myth perpetuated by class warriors attempting to justify government growth and even higher taxation.
"Here are the IRS numbers for 2008, the latest year available:
"The wealthiest 1% of American taxpayers (incomes of $380,354 and higher) earned 20.00% of the nation’s income in 2008, which was down from its 22.83% income share in 2007. Their share of income taxes paid, however, was 38.02%. Accordingly, the portion of income taxes paid by the top 1% was approximately twice as high as their portion of income earned.
"If that two-to-one ratio doesn’t constitute a “fair share,” it’s difficult to imagine what does in the mind of the modern liberal."
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