So the rich don't pay do they...

There are many politicans claiming that the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes. The same politicians then say that the government needs to step in and make the rich pay more.

I have a question about the idea of the rich not paying their fair share of taxes? What is it based on? I wondered for quite awhile, how true is this? Is there any information that shows the amount of taxes paid by the "rich" versus the amount of taxes paid by the "poor"?

I found information that refutes the claim being made by many politicians today. If you look at the bottom portion of the image, the chart compares the percent of total income earned in the country by various groups to the percent of the total federal taxes paid by those same groups. Let's look closely.

1. The top 0.1% make 9.1% of all the income in the country but pay 17.4% of all the federal taxes paid in the country.

2. The top 1% make 19% of all income but pay 36.9% of all federal taxes.

3. The top 5% make 33.4% of all income but pay 57.1% of all federal taxes.

4. The bottom 50% make 13.4% of all income but pay only 3.3% of all federal taxes.

5. The wealthiest 5% pay almost 60% of the taxes. While the poorest 50% pay less then 5%. How does that equal the rich don't pay their share of the taxes?? You tell me.


Look at the source... The Department of the Treasury, based on IRS data from the 2004 tax year. Not a political party or someone trying to win an election.

So you want to make health care affordable?

So everyone wants health care to be more affordable, right? Don't want to necessarily put the government in charge of it though? Well here's one suggestion that wouldn't require raising any one's taxes, wouldn't create a new government agency to oversee anything, wouldn't cost tax payers a single dollar, etc...

Under the current tax laws, multiply your income by 7.5%, that is the amount of money that is excluded from what you can claim for medical expenses as a deduction on your taxes. What does that mean? For example, if you have $25,000 in income, the first $1875 you spend on medical, be it premiums, co-pays, bills, etc, can not be used as a tax deduction. If you have $50,000 in income, the first $3750 in medical expenses can't help you on your taxes.

In my experience in a tax preparation office, there are very few, as in a handful of people for every 100, that actually surpass that 7.5% floor and get any kind of tax benefit from all the money they spend on their own health care.

Why not make medical expenses tax deductable, or at least lower the percentage that is excluded? This would be the easiest way to make health care more affordable for every single person.

It would also give people incentive to pay their medical bills. Maybe if more people would or "could" pay their medical bills, those who do pay would see a benefit, such as lower bills. (think about the impact shoplifting has on prices of goods. the more loss to the store, the more the customers have to pay to offset the loss.)

That's my thought on the subject... What do you think?