Tax Day Facts

• Federal income taxes are only 1/5 of the taxes we pay
• Federal income taxes are also less than half of the taxes collected by the feds
• In other words we pay more than just a federal income tax (payroll taxes, sales tax, property tax...)
• The richest Americans actually have a lower effective tax rate (17%) than the middle class and even the poor (22.5%)
• Since 1992, tax rates for the rich have decreased at ten times the rate as middles class or poor, from 27% to 17% versus 9.9% to 9.3%
• Billionaire Donald Trump routinely pays no federal income taxes
• John Paulson made $9 billion in hedge fund fees and will pay no federal income tax on it
• When Reagan was elected president, the top marginal tax rate (the tax rate paid on the last dollar of income earned) was 70 percent. He cut it to 50 percent and then 28 percent starting in 1987. It was raised by George H.W. Bush and Clinton, and then cut by George W. Bush. The top rate is now 35 percent.
• Corporate taxes have dropped 23% since 2000
• Average wage (what people make on average) dropped 6.5% from 2000-2009
• Individual income tax revenue has dropped 30% since 2000
• Despite the 30% drop in revenue, federal spending has increased by almost 60%

Sources: here, here and here

To see your very own personal tax receipt and what you get when you pay your federal income taxes go here.

A final parting note on how unfair our tax system is:

• During seven of the eight George W. Bush years, the IRS report on the top 400 taxpayers was labeled a state secret, a policy that the Obama administration overturned almost instantly after his inauguration.