Quote:
Originally Posted by snider
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/06in11si.xls
It's interesting that people making between $100,000 and $200,000 pay the majority of collected taxes, 20.4%. Sure people making more money pay more percentage wise of their taxable income, it's just there are so many more people in the 100 to 200 thousand tax bracket that they bear the most weight of the total taxes collected. So the upper middle class contributes the most. I love Wikipedia but you have to fact check it because anyone can go in and edit the information.
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I don't see how that conflicts with Wikipedia ??
I don't think I would say "more people in the 100 to 200 thousand tax bracket that they bear the most weight of the total taxes collected." - the top 5% of incomes in this country pay 50% of the tax regardless of how many people are involved. Despite their small numbers, they pay a higher percentage of their income in tax, and that income when added with the other people in that 5% equals about 50% of the total tax collected, more than the middle class's 20+%. Remember, someone in that 5% might make a billion $us a year and pay half a billion in taxes, that adds up fast despite their small numbers.
Now I might agree with you that the middle class pays the highest percentage of their discretionary income in taxes - because after you make a certain amount of income the rest is just icing on the cake, and if you make below a certain amount you aren't paying any tax anyway, so it really is the middle class that carries the burden in terms of suffering and misery, they are the ones who have to give up the money they might have had for retirement to the tax man.