Today is tax filing day, and no doubt some of you wonder how you rank with the rest of the country in the big scheme of who is paying income taxes. The Tax Foundation has released its study of 2015 income taxes (https://files.taxfoundation.org/20180117125609/Tax-Foundation-FF570.pdf) and the information is entertaining if nothing else. For example, if you have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of at least $480,930 congratulations are in order! You are in the top 1% of taxpayers in the nation and collectively your tiny group pays over 39% of all income taxes.
If your AGI is greater than $195,778 you are still in the top 5% and collectively your group pays over 59% of all income taxes. The top 5% pay 59% of the tax burden!
Let me digress for a moment – when people complain about tax cuts that affect the “wealthy”, they rarely acknowledge that those are the people that are the ones paying most of the taxes to begin with. Just had to throw that in.
Continuing our romp through the numbers , if your AGI exceeds $138,031 you are in the top 10%, AGI greater than $79,655 puts you in the top 25%, and an AGI greater than $39,275 is all you need to be included in the top half of all taxpayers, and you collectively pay over 97% of all income taxes!
So rather than fume about that check you wrote today and sent off to Uncle Trump, take heart. It’s sort of like being in an exclusive club (almost).