Wow. Even CNN can’t ignore the math anymore. Too bad socialist morons like Bruce Haywood and Comrade Clayton Tucker SDEC-24 TX are incapable of 3rd grade math. The mathematical facts are that “the rich” pay FAR MORE than their fair share. The problem isn’t “the rich being greedy”. The problem is the laughable expansion of the welfare state and the tens of millions of parasites sucking the rest of us dry. From the CNN article:
While “fair” is subjective, most Americans might not understand how much of the tax burden the rich actually bear. The answer may surprise them.
According to the IRS, in 2020, the top 1% of taxpayers (about 1.5 million taxpayers), paid $722 billion in income taxes. That amount accounted for 42.3% of all income taxes paid, the highest percentage in modern history.
By contrast, the bottom 90% of taxpayers (about 142 million taxpayers) paid a combined $450 billion in income taxes, or just 26.3% of the total, their lowest percentage of the tax burden in decades. That means the top 1% of taxpayers pay a far greater share of the nation’s tax burden than 142 million of their neighbors combined.
Surely, the rich pay a larger amount because they earn the most money, right? Not exactly. In 2020, the top 1% of taxpayers earned 22% of all adjusted gross income; their 42.3% share of the income taxes is nearly twice their share of the nation’s income.
The opposite is true for the bottom 90%. They earned more than half, 50.5%, of the nation’s income but paid 26.3% of the taxes — roughly half of their share of the nation’s income.
This hasn’t always been the case. In 1980, the tax burden was much more evenly shared. The bottom 90% earned 68% of the nation’s income and paid 52% of the income taxes. The top 1% earned 9.6% of the nation’s income and paid 17% of the income taxes.
What led to our tax system becoming more progressive today than it has been since at least World War II?
One reason is the massive expansion of social programs delivered through the tax code over the past three decades. Some of the largest programs aimed at lower-income families and those with children are run through the IRS — the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Collectively, they deliver roughly $180 billion worth of benefits each year, much of which is refundable — meaning a family gets a tax refund check even if they don’t owe any taxes.
What dicks people like Clayton Tucker SDEC-24 TX are. Envious little morons. Useful idiots for permanent Washington.