[Brown Deer]

You're forgetting that the Example A is of a single taxpayer who has $12,000 of deductions.

So, it's very conveniently "cherry picked"? In fact, it's a very unlikely occurrence.

The fact is, only about 30% of all taxpayers itemize. Additionally, you and I both know that it is much more unlikely that someone with an income of only $25,000 will itemize because in most cases, for them, the standard deduction is higher.

In fact according to the IRS, for someone with under $15,000 AGI who has itemized, the average state and local tax deduction is $937, mortgage interest deduction is $6374 and for charity it is $1533.

Indeed, in your example, there is an automatic red flag being triggered at the IRS, when someone with an AGI of only $11K claims that they are donating $6000 per year to charity!

[remember]

The tax plan needs to be fair for as many taxpayers as possible, not just the “average” taxpayer. That’s especially the case for low-income taxpayers. In any case, please provide a precise link to the table that gives your numbers. It’s not that I doubt your numbers but that will allow me to look at other related numbers and look for other data such as a distribution table, if one exists.