Interesting nuggets from this article:
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the top 1% of earners paid:
- 41.7% of income taxes in 2018
- 25.9% of federal taxes.
The top 20% of earners paid:
- 90.9% of income taxes
- 69.8% of all federal taxes
While the “rich” pay over 40% of income taxes, they earn just 21% of all income, according to the Heritage Foundation. The bottom 50 percent pay just 3% of income taxes, while the bottom 75% pay just 13% of income taxes.
So not only do higher earners pay the vast majority of taxes, they pay a larger proportion of totals taxes than the proportion of total income they earn. Something to keep in mind the next time you hear a politician suggest the rich need to pay their "fair share". Notice that phrase is never defined (in large part because they are already paying more than a fair share). What they really mean is that the rich should pay MORE, but they aren't honest enough to say that.
