Do the wealthy pay their fair share? The IRS has just released the statistics for 2007 on who is paying what portion of the total income tax burden in the United States, and in answer to the quesiton, yes, the rich pay taxes.
The upper incomers of our nation continue to bear a record share of the income tax burden. The top 1% of filers paid 40.4% of all federal income taxes, up from the 39.9% the previous year. However, these taxpayers only made 22.8% of the total reported adjusted gross income. Are you part of that 1%? If you made more than $410,000 last year, then the answer is yes.
If you made more than $160,000 last year, that puts you in the top 5%. The top 5% paid 60.6% of the total tax burden for 2007. So what if your income is below average? In 2007 the bottom 50% of income earners combined paid a total of 2.9% of the income tax burden.