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0 pointsxyzelement2y ago0 comments

// Why should the majority of the tax burden be on the middle class?

I think it's a common misconception that the rich don't pay taxes. According to a quick Google (but in line with prior research):

In 2020, the bottom half of taxpayers paid 2.3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent paid 42.3 percent of all federal income taxes.

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dahart2y ago

So a few things…

First, that quote you found is cherry picked from 2020 which is not representative of most years. [1] The argument is also sneakily abusing the fact that federal taxes are intentionally applied only to income above the poverty level.

Second, it’s well documented that our billionaires pay around 8% (only on their “reported income”, btw, which is often tiny compared to the wealth they have access to. Google says Bezos pays more like 1% on the money he makes when you account for all of it.) 8% is obviously far far lower than our middle and upper middle classes pay. The millionaires might pay taxes in proportions similar to the middle class, but the super rich do not. The sources on this are plentiful and easy to find.

[1] https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3894233-how-america-actu...

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