Are you paying your fair share of taxes?
The tax day deadline is upon us, and naturally conversation drifts to how much we’re paying and whether it’s too much. Also, who’s not paying their fair share.
Here are some interesting data points to consider in the eternal debate, courtesy of MarketWatch:
– Some 46 percent of taxpayers won’t owe any federal income tax in 2011, said the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.
– The top 20 percent of income earners paid 70 percent of federal taxes in 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That group also had 60 percent of total pretax income.
– In 2011, federal corporate income taxes consumed an estimated 7.7 percent of income for the top 1 percent of income earners, compared to a 0.4 percent hit to taxpayers in the lowest one-fifth of income, the Tax Policy Center said.
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16 comments Add your comment
BigDawg
April 17th, 2012
10:11 am
A consumption tax has no loopholes, same for everyone. Value added tax (VAT) or national sales tax anyone?
Todd
April 17th, 2012
10:17 am
I just wrote our government a check for $40,000 for 2011 taxes and 46% of the people don’t pay anything? Our founding fathers would be never let this happen. We MUST get rid of Obama and the parasites in November or a revolution is at hand.
Jim
April 17th, 2012
10:50 am
The Fair Tax is the way to go. All are treated equally and given money for basic necessities. If you want more then you have to work for the premium stuff.
BigDawg
April 17th, 2012
10:56 am
Hey Ho, Obama’s Got to Go!
zeke
April 17th, 2012
11:41 am
A “fair tax” model sales tax is the only answer! VAT is a socialist money grab that destroys all economic incentive as it has in Europe! It is obvious from the above listed figures that the low wage earners are NOT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE!!!
Heather McPherson
April 17th, 2012
12:20 pm
I think whats fair is for people who make more to pay more. How can if be expected for a person who makes 20,000 a year to pay the same amount of taxes as someone who makes 100,000 a year. If you want premium things,work more right? What kind of lala land are you people in? Are jobs just given away, is education free, are all people treated the same? No! Get a grip, pay your taxes and drive your expensive cars and give people a chance. You speak about founding fathers, those founding fathers were made of a people (all same race and sex) of different economic means and even they understood fairness. Fairness is not everyone paying the same taxes, so they have to break their next to make as much as the next guy. What do you guys want? Communism?
MrLiberty
April 17th, 2012
12:27 pm
Is there a special reason why this page won’t accept any postings?
MrLiberty
April 17th, 2012
12:40 pm
Apparently hard-hitting questions about the proper role of government are not allowed in posts on this blog.
Ed
April 17th, 2012
2:02 pm
A real (no exceptions) fair tax will never pass in this country. If I thought it would, I might just support it…but people will never let their child deductions, church-offering deductions, etc go away.
Unfortunately, anyone who is responsible with their money gets screwed over during the fair tax transition. If I am debt free and have savings then whenever the fair Tax comes into play…yippee…I get to pay tax whenever I spend that (already taxed) savings. Meanwhile, if my neighbor owes $300.000 on a house, $50,000 on a car and has another $20,000 in credit card debt…well, he already made those purchases, so won’t need to pay tax on them AND will get to pay that debt off with non-taxed income. Someone really needs to reconsider the concept that this is a “Fair” tax.
Mike
April 17th, 2012
2:43 pm
Todd, “I just wrote our government a check for $40,000 for 2011 taxes and 46% of the people don’t pay anything? Our founding fathers would be never let this happen.”
They would have, actually – they expected that the government would be funded and operated by wealthy male landowners. But that was for the very limited role they established – like coining money, maintaining an army, negotiating treaties. I can only imagine what they’d think of welfare, farm subsidies, or the Earned Income Credit.
BobRobert
April 17th, 2012
2:45 pm
No, I am not paying “my fair share.” I am paying my share and about 5 deadbeats share. As much as I pay in taxes, the least some of these non-tax payors should do is come cut my grass or wash my card.
And Heather, we who make over $100,000 DO pay more in taxes than someone who makes $20,000. Quit drinking the kool-aid the democrat-commies are feeding you and do the research. As the article says, a very large segment of the country pays no income tax (46%) while the rest of us have to tote the load for them. And Obama wants us to pay even more. He can kiss my grits!
Mike
April 17th, 2012
2:46 pm
Heather, “How can it be expected for a person who makes 20,000 a year to pay the same amount of taxes as someone who makes 100,000 a year?”
It’s not. They’re paying the same RATE. Someone who has five times as much taxable income is paying five times as much in taxes.
Keiwanna
April 17th, 2012
11:20 pm
The irony is that the freeloading 46% are the high maintenance tax takers who clamor the loudest that the rest of us should pay our “fair share”. What a farce. Every wage earner should be required to pay some tax, even if only few bucks, to have some skin in the game.
Roberto
April 18th, 2012
9:08 am
I love America! I gladly pay me taxes when I buy my food and clothes and all those theengs. I am so glad my Honcho pays me with green money because the wheeskee store likes to keep so much if I have check. But I steel wonder why me pay is only for half of the hours I work. Honcho says he has to send the rest of me pay to the taxman so I don’t have to. Thank you Honcho for taking care of me! But that taxman, he is a very greeedy man.
MiltonMan
April 18th, 2012
9:22 am
When 46% of tax filers pay NO income tax and another unknown percentage of the population don’t even FILE a return, then there is no wonder why Obama and the democrats have a stanglehold on the voting public. The takers in this Country have outnumbered the producers. We are on our way to becoming another Greece.
HOWEVER, this injustice will not go on forever. The producers in this Country will leave for more favorable environments. In an age of mobility, technology, and telecommunications, Capital will go where it is welcomed and stay where it is well treated.
Lisa Nelson
April 20th, 2012
5:40 pm
Why do people that get married are penalized when it comes to taxes? I was a single parent to my then 18 year old son and then I got married when he turned 19 and he’s 20 now. I really didn’t benefit from head of household because I make good money, but I deserve to make good money since I went to college and is currently working on completing my MBA. Why are those that work hard and make good money paying taxes and everyone else’s taxes too. It’s not fair. I don’t care if you rich, middle-class like myself or poor. Everyone needs to pay their fair share of taxes or completely eliminate taxes all together and raise consumption tax for everyone. It’s not right that my husband and I have to pay $21,000 in taxes for 2011. Someone please, please stop the madness. I’m tired of those that do not pay taxes, getting $10,000 refund checks because they earn $26,000 a year and have a lot of kids. Who’s fault is that? Why am I being punished? What was the point of me going to school? I’m $50,000 in debt from student loans, can I get some government help on that and I’m paying my son’s tuition at school.