IRS data shows that in 2007 — the most recent data available — the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.
Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined.
Yes, but what percentage of the total income does that top 1% represent? And what about assets? What percent of the total assets do they own?
Fair question. Here’s some more info from The Tax Foundation link above…
Assets are different. You’ve probably noticed high-income people — often athletes or celebrities — filing for bankruptcy because they spent the money as fast as they earned it. You can have high income/low assets, high assets/low income…you could look up top 1 percent of net worth but that’s a different group than top 1 percent of taxpayers, as there is no income tax on assets…
Well, I knew that. I was just trying (poorly) to point out that the deck is stacked for the rich to get richer and to hell with the rest of us.
Figures…