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

Originally posted by Kali74
Forgive me if this has been covered (I'm on page 9 and haven't seen my question) or is just a stupid question but, I don't see this chart anywhere on IRS.gov. The link on the American Heritage Foundation's site goes to a blank page on it's own site. So my question is, are there any other sources to support the claim of 10% paying 71% of the federal income tax?

ETA and even still the chart only covers up until 2006?

edit on 22-2-2012 by Kali74 because: (no reason given)

Here you go. I just did a Google search.

The Top 10% pay 70.5% of income taxes.
- Top 10% -

reply to post by Kali74


From what I can track down...it looks like most of the articles I see eventually link back to this calculator

kiplinger.com...

This claims:

Using data released by the IRS, Kiplinger has built a tool to show your income status compared to your fellow Americans. The income breakdowns are based on adjusted gross income (AGI) reported on 2009 tax returns -- the latest statistics available.

Originally posted by earthdude
reply to post by SavedOne

 

The top 10% are not rich? They struggle? I think you are pulling my leg.

Some in the top 10% struggle...just because they make a lot of money doesn't mean they make good financial decisions.

Besides those living in poverty, people who struggle do so at their own fault...trying to live above their means. Sure, there are exceptions...but in general I would say anyone that makes a decent living and is struggling is trying to live too high of a life.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Well...I think we can pretty much disregard the information as being from a credible source almost immediately given that it comes from a lobbying firm & conservative think tank "study".

Besides...corporations are people...remember? And I thought the person named General Electric doesn't pay U.S. taxes at all, no matter how many billions of dollars of pure profit that individual earned last year.

reply to post by Eurisko2012


Yep. Data from the lobbying firm and conservative policy research entity known as "The Tax Foundation" is in close agreement with the data from illustrated from the lobbying firm and conservative policy research entity known as "The Heritage Group".

Must be true.

In other news...10 out 10 Kennedy's think we need more Kennedy's in politics.

Originally posted by milominderbinder
reply to post by Eurisko2012

 

Yep. Data from the lobbying firm and conservative policy research entity known as "The Tax Foundation" is in close agreement with the data from illustrated from the lobbying firm and conservative policy research entity known as "The Heritage Group".

Must be true.

In other news...10 out 10 Kennedy's think we need more Kennedy's in politics.

Well, use your common sense.

If the numbers were fictitious don't you think MSNBC would run right out there

and expose the - hoax?-

Media Matters would be jumping up and down with glee if the numbers were wrong.


----------
OMG! The numbers are right.

All i had to do was think it through.

reply to post by Skyfloating


What proportion of the income do they earn? To what proportion does this top ten percent benefit from Federal tax expenditures?

Most of what Federal money is spent on benefits the Top 10% much more than the rest of the population... Look at defense spending, infrastructure spending, the courts and police system that protects private property (including intellectual property), government contracts, the cost of "saving" the financial system.

I get tired of these stupid claims that don't look beyond a couple of headline numbers... Think a little, please, before swallowing these simplistic ideological suppostions.

Originally posted by Jessica6
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

What proportion of the income do they earn? To what proportion does this top ten percent benefit from Federal tax expenditures?

Most of what Federal money is spent on benefits the Top 10% much more than the rest of the population... Look at defense spending, infrastructure spending, the courts and police system that protects private property (including intellectual property), government contracts, the cost of "saving" the financial system.

I get tired of these stupid claims that don't look beyond a couple of headline numbers... Think a little, please, before swallowing these simplistic ideological suppostions.

Most of the spending is on Social Security - Medicare - Medicaid - DOD.

Try a Google search before pontificating on ATS.

Originally posted by Laokin

Okay, you're right -- technically it CAN be fixed -- but in order to fix it, everyone must be on the same page.

The probability that the super wealthy consumed by greed that stole their way to the top are going to help fix it is astronomical.

I tend to believe it is a short term vs. long term thinking problem.

Protecting tax-loopholes, tax biases, and disproportionately low tax rates for capital gains and other methods of wealth accumulation certainly benefits the wealthy in the short term...BUT we are reaching a critical tipping point in wealth distribution where the middle class is ceasing to function. We have made due on credit and home loans in place of actual income for over a decade now...and those days of free money are gone. Absent a healthy middle class (consumer class) the wealthy will in the LONG TERM...see their wealth evaporate with the economy.

The wealthy need a healthy middle class to prosper in the long term. The short term instinct is to protect the wealth they have now. It is the age old trade-off...short term vs. long term...greater wealth now with a steep decline in the future or shared sacrifice now and steady growth later.

This is what we are facing as a nation..

We put our wives to work in the eighties (two-income households)...then we borrowed money on credit cards and home loans...all with no gain in real income. The middle class has no band-aids left. We need to fix the system...not rob from the rich, just level the playing field. If we don't do that, then the middle class goes under and the upper class will follow.

SCROLL LEFT AND RIGHT...CANT GET THE PIC TO FIT PROPERLY

reply to post by Bhadhidar


Yeah...but when I simply avoid thinking at any and all costs and process the world around me solely in terms of metaphorical "soundbites"...then it helps me justify my broken political and economic ideology so that I can avoid admitting that I was wrong.

Hey Pontify this...


... one for you nineteen for me. Thats no joke. In England the Beatles millions were a mere pittance compared to what The Taxman tooketh. Just be glad they don't take it all.

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?

Clearly we need more men with guns to take from the rich to give to the poor, like Robin Hood.

Never mind that people who are rich generally got that way because they ran a business that provided products to the masses that improved the quality of their lives.

Never mind that people who are rich generally got that way because they employed people and resources efficiently in order to benefit humanity.

Unless of course they got rich because they were elected to a high public office, or their business received grants/bailouts/contracts from the government. For example, Goldman Sachs, Obama, Bank of America, Raytheon, General Electric, Monsanto, ConAgra, etc.. etc.. etc..

That anyone buys into this propaganda is pathetic.

Yeah, all those lazy school kids who have savings accounts aren't paying their fair share of taxes.

The top 1% should be paying all of the income tax. Income tax was only created for the wealthy, and not for the rest, because it is only the wealthy that get back anything from the fed gov.

Unless you own a factory in China, or any income you get from stocks you own from corporations manufacturing in China (profiting on slave labor and child labor like any of you got a moral leg to stand on) you shouldn't be paying income taxes.

The PTB have done a great job of dumbing down the masses.

reply to post by Indigo5


I found a revealing chart.



It looks like we should - reduce - the size of the US government.

Originally posted by poet1b

That anyone buys into this propaganda is pathetic.

Yeah, all those lazy school kids who have savings accounts aren't paying their fair share of taxes.

The top 1% should be paying all of the income tax. Income tax was only created for the wealthy, and not for the rest, because it is only the wealthy that get back anything from the fed gov.

Unless you own a factory in China, or any income you get from stocks you own from corporations manufacturing in China (profiting on slave labor and child labor like any of you got a moral leg to stand on) you shouldn't be paying income taxes.

The PTB have done a great job of dumbing down the masses.

We should just lock up rich people and take their money.

Life would be better if no one were rich.

Originally posted by Eurisko2012

Originally posted by Jessica6
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

What proportion of the income do they earn? To what proportion does this top ten percent benefit from Federal tax expenditures?

Most of what Federal money is spent on benefits the Top 10% much more than the rest of the population... Look at defense spending, infrastructure spending, the courts and police system that protects private property (including intellectual property), government contracts, the cost of "saving" the financial system.

I get tired of these stupid claims that don't look beyond a couple of headline numbers... Think a little, please, before swallowing these simplistic ideological suppostions.

Most of the spending is on Social Security - Medicare - Medicaid - DOD.

Try a Google search before pontificating on ATS.

Social Security - Medicare - Medicaid - DOD....ALL OF WHICH BENEFIT THE OBSCENELY WEALTHY TO AN EQUALLY OBSCENE DEGREE.

Social programs for food, shelter, medical care, etc were not originally implemented for the benefit of the poor. They were implemented for the same reason the Roman Empire used to offer the dole of grain to all the unemployed people whose jobs had been outsourced to slaves.

Specifically, that reason is that it is far easier to enjoy your vast wealth when there are not marauding packs of desperate humans looking to crucify their corrupt overlords. Likewise, at this point in the game...I think we can almost all agree that the DOD is little more "Blackwater Pro", correct?

I mean...does anybody here still ACTUALLY think that it's about the ol' red, white, and blue anymore?

reply to post by AnarchoCapitalist

Never mind that people who are rich generally got that way because they ran a business that provided products to the masses that improved the quality of their lives

Again, what nonsense. Most people are rich because they were born into money. They went to the right schools and kissed the right people's behinds, ruthlessly stole from everyone they could, and when that wasn't enough, they went to third world countries and engaged in slavery.

Can you name 1 thing, that contributed to society, invented by a billionaire?

If legit data, interesting.
But still, they may pay a lot in taxes, but that is hurting their lifestyle how, again?
When my $50,000 / year is taxed at 40%, that leaves me with almost nothing after rent and utilities.
I don't even have a lifestyle, my lifestyle is getting by LOL.
I was always a liberal on most everything, then I moved to California and there are so many ridiculous taxes and laws here that aren't in the rest of the country that I have come to be on the "screw the big gov't" side of things.
I don't think raising taxes on anyone should be the solution, it's government WASTE and SPENDING that needs to be dealt with. This will help us lower-middle-class folks and rich folks, alike.

We should just lock up rich people and take their money.

Life would be better if no one were rich.

I'm cool with that.

Originally posted by Eurisko2012
reply to post by Indigo5

 

It looks like we should - reduce - the size of the US government.

HERESY!

Sir, your comment smacks of capitalist influences. Clearly you don't care about the poor and want to see children suffer in factories deprived of an education.

Everything the State spends money on improves your life.

Consider Solyndra, Wall Street bailouts, 900 military bases across the globe, the Post Office which is now bankrupt, and public education.

Without the State, children would have to get a private education, and we all know that private schools are terrible compared to the high quality education the State provides.