The Top 10% of income earners paid 71% of federal income tax

I found a chart sourced from the IRS that shows how the top 10% of income earners paid 71% of federal income tax. This is pretty interesting because it would mean that all those calls that the rich should pay more taxes or that they dont pay enough taxes are wrong. The 10%ers seem to be paying plenty of taxes.

Thoughts?

They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
I found a chart sourced from the IRS that shows how the top 10% of income earners paid 71% of federal income tax. This is pretty interesting because it would mean that all those calls that the rich should pay more taxes or that they dont pay enough taxes are wrong. The 10%ers seem to be paying plenty of taxes.

Thoughts?

The people saying they don't pay their share is right. Everyone should be paying the same percentage in taxes. Everyone that cries they pay too much just looks at amounts never percent of income.

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

Obviously a comment where the only motivation was jealousy. Jealous of the rich kids are we? Jealousy is curse. You obviously have never "earned" real money as you would not feel that way if you had.

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

And there you have it!
Could have come straight from the Obama administration. The wealthy need to pay their "fair share". And 71% isn't fair enough yet.

To the OP, nice.
Simple, clear and to the point.

reply to post by Skyfloating


I'd rather see numbers than percentages, The upper half of the country could pay a significantly smaller percentage of their income than the lower half, and still be contributing more just by the nature of percentages.

Sourced from the IRS??? Now that's reputable ::laughs:: I just found out that the government has never lied to us about anything. Source: The Easter Bunny & The Tooth Fairy

Originally posted by phatpackage

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

Obviously a comment where the only motivation was jealousy. Jealous of the rich kids are we? Jealousy is curse. You obviously have never "earned" real money as you would not feel that way if you had.

Obviously you are not American, where all the tax policy has been written to benefit the 10%
which has created an artificial budget crisis by design.

I'll tell you Ringo, ignorance is the worst curse, you should see a witch doctor.

Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

And there you have it!
Could have come straight from the Obama administration. The wealthy need to pay their "fair share". And 71% isn't fair enough yet.

I much prefer Balance and Obama seems to get it, while you repeat ideas that
have been failing for 30 years.

Originally posted by buster2010
The people saying they don't pay their share is right. Everyone should be paying the same percentage in taxes. Everyone that cries they pay too much just looks at amounts never percent of income.

I dont understand what you mean. So you think the 10% rich people should not be paying 71% but the same amount as every other income group but on the other hand you think the rich dont pay their share? Please clarify.

Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

And there you have it!
Could have come straight from the Obama administration. The wealthy need to pay their "fair share". And 71% isn't fair enough yet.

To the OP, nice.
Simple, clear and to the point.

It's not, it's clearly misleading. They pay more money, because they make more, but they pay a smaller percentage out of the money they earn than the rest of us.


It just so happens that if you make more money a lower % ends up being a higher figure. This is how math works.

A simple example.

10% of 100 is 10.

10% of 200 is 20.

That means, 5% of 400 is also 20.

This means 5% of 800 is 40.


So if you make $800 and I make $100 and you pay 5%($40) and I pay 10%($10), you contribute more money, even though I paid in more money on what I earned than you who made 8x what I did.

This is not fair, especially once you consider the fact that those with the $800 have more to spare, and those with the one hundred can barely live, yet the ones with the $100 have to pay more on that $100, even though they can't really afford to.

The OPs Figure of 71% is the total amount of taxes paid, NOT the percentage of what they pay on what they earn.

It's really quite simple. If you don't do it this way, the finite amount of resources gets consolidated into the hands of the wealthy and the government, leaving the rest of the country broke, amongst a myriad of other scams living along side of the tax codes and exemptions for those with power money.

Meanwhile the percentage of those with zero federal tax liability continues to grow. The scales are so out of balance at the moment that it's tough to see a serious correction in the future. We have an administration that wants to continue piling the burden on a select few.

The tipping point is not a good place to be for a nation. Just look at Greece. A day ago they were on the verge of a full tilt, now a short term bailout, 3 months from now they will repeat the same cycle.

*not sure how this post exists, disregard*

Originally posted by Laokin
This is not fair

If I'd agree with you, we'd both be wrong.

Define "fair".

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller


I much prefer Balance and Obama seems to get it, while you repeat ideas that
have been failing for 30 years.

edit on 21-2-2012 by jacklondonmiller because: (no reason given)

How odd.
While you see balance with Obama's approach, I see just the opposite.

And repeating ideas is all I have. I just wish someone, anyone would listen and even act on them.

Growing government, growing entitlements, growing dependence, won't enable the country to grow.

Only government will.

Originally posted by Skyfloating


Define "fair".

fair [fair]   Origin fair 1   [fair] adjective, fair·er, fair·est, adverb, fair·er, fair·est, noun, verb adjective
1. free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
I found a chart sourced from the IRS that shows how the top 10% of income earners paid 71% of federal income tax. This is pretty interesting because it would mean that all those calls that the rich should pay more taxes or that they dont pay enough taxes are wrong. The 10%ers seem to be paying plenty of taxes.

Thoughts?

How can you say that when 99% of all income is earned by 1% in this country. Not very informed are you?

Originally posted by chapterhouse
How can you say that when 99% of all income is earned by 1% in this country. Not very informed are you?

How can I say that the rich pay most of the taxes in this country? I can say it by quoting IRS Stats.

Originally posted by Laokin


The OPs Figure of 71% is the total amount of taxes paid, NOT the percentage of what they pay on what they earn.

It's really quite simple. If you don't do it this way, the finite amount of resources gets consolidated into the hands of the wealthy and the government, leaving the rest of the country broke, amongst a myriad of other scams living along side of the tax codes and exemptions for those with power money.

edit on 21-2-2012 by Laokin because: (no reason given)

That would mean that 90% pay only 29% of the tax burden. Since 50% don't pay federal taxes, that means 40%, actually pay. Which means a greater burden on the middle class.

So.
We could further tax the wealthy, the successful.
Or start taxing middle class more, who are already feeling a huge burden.
Or, start taxing those that make less than 30K a year.

Or. . . here's a wacky thought. A totally insane and crazy idea!

Have the government NOT SPEND SO MUCH!!!!

Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by jacklondonmiller
They should pay more and entitlements should be reformed.

The wealthy need to pay their "fair share". And 71% isn't fair enough yet.

Damn right they need to pay their fair share because right now, THEY AREN'T. You can cite all day how the rich pay the most taxes, but the reason they do is, THEY'RE MAKING THE MOST MONEY! Duh.

Data from the Tax Foundation bears this out. Between 1987 and 2008, the share of income controlled by the top 1% grew to 20% from 12%. That signals a total share growth of 67%. During the same period, their share of taxes went to 28% from 24%, suggesting share growth of 17%. In other words, the top 1% share of income grew nearly five times faster than their share of taxes.

From the oh so liberal wall street journal

There you have it; the super wealthy's income has grown 5 times faster than their share of the tax burden, historically.

Keep coddling the rich. It doesn't work, especially with regards to this notion that the rich create jobs. The top 1% have more wealth historically than at any time in history. According to the people who want to keep defending the wealthiest, we should be overflowing with jobs. Actually, we have a jobs crisis that rivals or exceeds numbers during the great depression.

Now, of course entrepreneurs are an important part of the company-creation process. And so are investors, who risk capital in the hope of earning returns. But, ultimately, whether a new company continues growing and creates self-sustaining jobs is a function of customers' ability and willingness to pay for the company's products, not the entrepreneur or the investor capital. Suggesting that "rich entrepreneurs and investors" create the jobs, therefore, Hanauer observes, is like suggesting that squirrels create evolution.

Rich people don't create jobs, demand for products does