Half of Americans Don't Pay Their Fair Share

Fully half of Americans aren't paying their fair share of taxes. But, it's not the half that you think.

Buffett Rule (Buffett): "I could pay more taxes. People like me ... " (presumably meaning billionnaires) "... could pay more taxes, too."
Buffett Rule (as translated by the Left): The rich 1% should be taxed much more, even Warren Buffett says so.

Reality Check #1: The 1% are rich people? No. In 2009, the 99th percentile income level was just under $344,000, well within the range of better doctors, orthodontists and successful small-town business people.

Reality Check #2: The 1% don't pay their share? No. In 2009, the top 1% paid 36.7% of the total taxes paid, while their taxable income represented just 16.9% of total income for the year. (Got to watch that AGI statistic, though - it's after deductions, which the 1% presumably have more of).

Reality Check #3: The rest of us pay more than our share? No. In 2009, the average tax rate of Americans was 11.06%, the average tax rate of the 1% was 24.01%. But the average tax rate of the bottom 50% of income earners was just 1.85%.

That's at least half the population, who demand and consume at least half the public services who, in 2009, paid only 2.3% of the total taxes. It's clear who isn't paying their fair share.


Check for yourself: IRS SOI Tax Stats.