Posted on 01/24/2009 12:50:37 PM PST by palmer
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The IRS data below include all of the 135.7 million tax returns filed in 2006 that had a positive AGI, not just the returns from people who earned enough to owe taxes. From other IRS data, we can see that in 2006, 92.7 million of the tax returns came from people who paid taxes into the Treasury. That leaves 43 million tax returns filed by people with positive AGI who used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to completely wipe out their federal income tax liability. Not only did they get back every dollar that the federal government withheld from their paychecks during 2005, but some even received more back from the IRS. This is a result of refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which are not included in the aggregate percentile data here.
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From the Tax Foundation: Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data
Also see NTU: Who Pays Income Taxes? See Who Pays What where they show the top 50% paying 97% of taxes and the bottom 50% paying the other 3% (in 2006)
But the percentage of income paid in taxes was a little more even, see http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/ff135data--all%20charts.pdf where the top 50% paid 14% of their AGI in income taxes and the bottom 50% paid 3% of AGI in income taxes.
The references above do not include data on the payroll tax.
Fourth, the ranks of taxpayers in America is rather dynamic outside of the Acorn controlled inner cities. The rest of America has people who might have no income for this past year due to the housing bust, but are picking themselves up and finding new opportunities. Fifth, values and morals will trump taxes and welfare in close elections once the economy improves.
Claims that we have crossed a threshold, that there will never be another fair election, etc, are not valid. Calls for armed rebellion, etc are not constructive.
Our job is to construct and promote the conservative values and private enterprise alternative to the Democrats, attracting conservative Democrats where possible, but mainly focusing on taking back Congress in 2010 and the Presidency in 2012.
Major flaw in your argument - you assume that all voters filed an income tax return. Add in the non-filing voters and then come back and tell us how de Tocqueville's predictions will not come to be.
You can do the math.
I lived in a country that turned communist, and the only thing missing here is that the communist there took over by force, in addition to first brainwashing peoples minds, and turning them against the government. The communists in the USA are in control now, more than ever, and do not plan to give it up.
“In 2006, the number of voting age Americans was about 226 million. Of that 226 million about 93 million paid federal taxes.
You can do the math.”
Right on. We don’t need to have this argument taken away when it is correct. Sounds like Bob Dole? ;-)
PS to Robbie - FR really slow in Ohio - all other sites ok.
You have a point, but the numbers in the article I posted are for tax returns, not people. I can’t do the math until we figure out how many filers were head of household (that might include voting age dependents) and married filing jointly. Those returns can have two or more voters per return.
That (producer = slave) is how Cuba has worked for decades and is assuredly how democrats WANT our system to work, and they’re inches from it as of now.
It is not correct, see my last post.
The Democrats have won a majority and their leadership is radical leftist. But they are not monolithic. Also their majority can be overturned as it was in 1994 by their tendencies for authoritarianism like gun control. We need to fight those measures of course, but also let them hang themselves on the ones that pass.
There are too many voters that pay nothing, those that vote multiple times, and those that vote but aren't even citizens of the US!
The slugs and leeches now control the outcome of every election.
Assuming, contrary to the tedious detail, that all 53 million joint returns had a taxable AGI, that would mean that 146 million Americans paid tax, jointly or individually, vs. a voting population of 220-some million.
Reviewing the tedious detail, it looks like 40 million joint returns had income tax after credits, so thats only 120 million people paying tax vs. 220-some million voters.
Politically, this is indeed entering the red zone.
Sorry, bad math above.
93 million taxable returns-40 million taxable joint returns = 53 million taxable single returns;
so 53 million singles + (40 million joint returns * 2 people per joint return) = 133 million people paying returns jointly or individually.
So 133 million taxed individuals / voting population of 226 million = 58.8% of electorate actually taxed.
Filing a tax return dose not mean you paid any taxes. Add who pay a very small amount of taxes. Less than $600
I did. IOW, you don't know... at least not enough to justify the 'myth' statement. And it isn't just the non-taxpayers, it's NEA, AFSCUME and other scum as well that make up that majority. That's part of the assumption, when people make such statements and they are right about that.
Anyway the percentage of AGI paid in taxes (your point, I guess) has nothing to do with numbers of taxpayers and it doesn't change the fact that the top 50% still represent the lion's share of the Fed revenues.
It is not necessary for 51% of citizens to be non-taxpayers, for de Tocqueville’s conditions to be met.
NonValueAdded rightly mentioned de Tocqueville — but, even he fell into the trap of your red herring argument about paying any taxes.
Already, most citizens receive more goods and services from government than they pay for (and a minority pay a lot more than what they receive is worth). If you add in (say) free health care — that number will grow significantly.
Suppose you have a nominal “taxpayer” — paying, say $2,000 in taxes. If that taxpayer receives $3,000 in “free” government health care — the scenario set out by de Tocqueville has arrived. Add in all the other “entitlements”, etc. and the vast majority of voters will be receiving more from government than they pay for.
BTW, once you have “free” health care — you'll never get rid of it. Here, in Canada, even our Conservative politicians refer to universal government health care as a “sacred trust”.
All government employees, for instance, benefit more from government spending.
The U.S. federal government employs 1.8 million civilians, to start that analysis, and many state employees are dependent on federal largesse to maintain their own jobs or prospects of advancement.
You can check my math, but it seems to me that about 133 million people paid taxes.
The larger point about how many taxpayers might be net beneficiaries of government spending remains open.
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