the Fairness in Taxation Act

[Z06PDQ]

(Credit: CBS)

While Congress is primarily focused on cutting spending in the debate over reducing the federal budget deficit, some progressive lawmakers say it's time to start collecting more revenues from the wealthiest Americans.

Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois unveiled a bill today to create new, higher tax brackets for Americans making more than $1 million a year.

"This isn't about punishment or revenge. It's about fairness," Schakowsky said. "It's about avoiding budget cuts that harm middle class families and those who aspire to it. We can choose to cut education, job creation and health care, or we can choose to ask those who can contribute more to do so."

Currently, the top tax bracket begins at an income of $373,000 per year; income above that level is taxed at 35 percent. Schakowsky contends this fails to distinguish between the "well off" and the superrich, such as a group of hedge fund managers whose average income last year topped $1 billion.

Schakowsky's bill, called the Fairness in Taxation Act, would tax income between $1 million and $10 million at a rate of 45 percent. Income between $10 and $20 million would be taxed at a rate of 46 percent, and income between $20 and $100 million would be taxed at 47 percent.

Income between $100 million and $1 billion would be taxed at a rate of 48 percent, and income over $1 billion would be taxed at 49 percent. For those making over $1 million a year, capital gains and dividends would also be taxed as income.

Schakowsky claims the bill could raise more than $78 billion for the government.

"A tax system where families earning several thousand dollars are taxed at the same rate as millionaires is unfair, and unsustainable," Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), one of the bill's co-sponsors, said Wednesday. "At a time when House Republicans are demanding that working families, teachers, and firefighters bear the burden of reducing the deficit, millionaires should be required to contribute their fair share."

The bill's other co-sponsors include Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.); Bob Filner (D-Calif.); Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.); Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.); John Yarmuth (D-Ken.); and Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon).

Schakowsky said that it's time to make tax brackets fit the growing income disparity in the United States. According to analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, the top 1 percent of Americans owns 34 percent of the nation's private net worth, while the bottom 90 percent owns just 29 percent.

Incomes for America's highest earners have grown faster than for the rest of the nation in recent years. With the nation struggling to reduce the deficit, progressives argue, high earners should have to contribute more.

Republicans last year blocked Democratic efforts to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the top 2 percent of income earners in America -- those making $250,000 or more. Democrats failed in part because some objected to increasing taxes on those making not much more than $250,000.

Congress ultimately passed a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts, adding to the deficit and making some changes that actually slightly raised taxes for the poorest Americans.

Schakowsky was part of President Obama's 18-member bipartisan deficit commission, which searched for ways to reduce the deficit, though she voted against the final plan because she said it failed to address income disparity. The deficit commission plan, which included many elements, suggested reducing tax rates across the board while eliminating some tax deductions. It also called for modifying Social Security and Medicare.

A recent poll from CBS News' "60 Minutes" and Vanity Fair magazine found that between the choices of cutting defense spending, cutting Medicare, cutting Social Security, or raising taxes on the rich, 61 percent preferred raising taxes on the rich to balance the federal budget.

While the poor economy has resulted in relatively low income tax collections, conservatives argue that's no excuse to raise tax rates. Curtis Dubay of the Heritage Foundation writes that "tax reform is needed, but it's not because the tax code doesn't take enough of our money."

Too many deductions, credits and exemptions in the tax code are causing the government to "hemorrhage revenue" and creating a drag on the economy, Dubay argues.

Meanwhile, his colleague at the Heritage Foundation, David Weinberger, contends that income inequality does not matter -- because "equality of opportunity and equality of consumption have never been so ubiquitous."

[MrPeabody]

I'm sure all the Republican representatives will rush right in and vote for that one.

They should have called it the "Tax the Rich" bill. "Fairness in Taxation" will probably scare the hell out of people who don't pay any taxes now.

[Broken Wind]

A clearer example of the ideological differences between left and right could not have been found.

Needless to say, I vehemently disagree with virtually everything in that article.

[Z06PDQ]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

I'm sure all the Republican representatives will rush right in and vote for that one.

They should have called it the "Tax the Rich" bill. "Fairness in Taxation" will probably scare the hell out of people who don't pay any taxes now.

they made their fortunes off hard working,loyal Americans' blood,sweat & tears & now it's time to pitch in & help them. I'm sure they'll be chomping at the bit.

[Y2Kvert4me]

Sounds rather unfair to me.


The richest 5% already contribute nearly 60% of total income tax collected. That's a stunningly unfair statistic right there.


One would think if the ultimate goal is for the good of all, that contribution percentage should decrease, not increase.

[Z06PDQ]

400 people hold 1/2 the wealth, but we need to make the poor & middle class tighten their belts & do without? nuh uh.

[Y2Kvert4me]

Originally Posted by Z06PDQ

400 people hold 1/2 the wealth, but we need to make the poor & middle class tighten their belts & do without? nuh uh.

And with this idealogy, 200 people will soon hold 1/2 the wealth, but the kicker is that total wealth value will only be 1/16 of what it was.

Where did the money go?

[Z06PDQ]

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

And with this idealogy, 200 people will soon hold 1/2 the wealth, but the kicker is that total wealth value will only be 1/16 of what it was.

Where did the money go?

but we will have paid our bills. instead of another big crash that we may never recover from [all] people will be enabled to work & rebuild their wealth & the country. BTW your 200 people analogy is wrong.

[Peter Pan]

They are going at it the wrong way, 47% of americans pay no federal taxes now, that is the problem right there, no way 47% of americans live in poverty, time to get taxes from those not in poverty.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by Peter Pan

They are going at it the wrong way, 47% of americans pay no federal taxes now, that is the problem right there, no way 47% of americans live in poverty, time to get taxes from those not in poverty.

They pay no federal income taxes, but they may pay other federal taxes.

[Peter Pan]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

They pay no federal income taxes, but they may pay other federal taxes.

That is not what this bill is about, the rich then pay much more in other federal taxes

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by Peter Pan

That is not what this bill is about, the rich then pay much more in other federal taxes

Your statement that 47% of Americans pay no federal taxes is incorrect, period. Admit it and move on.

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

Sounds rather unfair to me.


The richest 5% already contribute nearly 60% of total income tax collected. That's a stunningly unfair statistic right there.


One would think if the ultimate goal is for the good of all, that contribution percentage should decrease, not increase.

It did decrease; who do you think got the increase?

[Peter Pan]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

Your statement that 47% of Americans pay no federal taxes is incorrect, period. Admit it and move on.

It is the facts jack, time to start taxing those not in poverty, no share is not a fair share.

[Peter Pan]

Who Pays Taxes? Not As Many As You Think
April 14, 2010

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text size A A A April 14, 2010 It turns out that nearly half of all Americans don't have to pay any federal income tax. In 2009, 47 percent of all filers paid nothing. It's a number that's gone up significantly in just a couple of years. Robert Siegel talks to Roberton Williams, who's been crunching the numbers at the Tax Policy Institute in Washington. According to Williams, millions escape filing because their incomes are too low or they're eligible for deductions, credits and exemptions.
Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Taxes are commonly referred to as one of life's certainties. You know what the other one is. And tomorrow is when Americans pay their federal income taxes. For many of us, the biggest single tax bill we see is at the bottom of an IRS 1040 form. For many of us, but not for all of us.

For many Americans, the Social Security and Medicare taxes take a bigger chunk of their income than the income tax does. And for quite a few Americans, that's a low threshold to clear since they don't pay any federal income tax at all.

Roberton Williams is a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, used to work on tax analysis at the Congressional Budget Office. And Mr. Williams' finding has gone viral. Let me ask you, now, how many Americans don't pay any federal income tax? And generally speaking, who are those people?

Mr. ROBERTON WILLIAMS (Senior Fellow, Tax Policy Center): By our estimate, about 47 percent of Americans will not pay any federal income tax for 2009. The people involved in that tend to be families with children, the elderly, low income households, those who either have too little income to pay taxes or who benefit enough from all the deductions, credits and exemptions in the income tax, so they're zeroed out on the bottom line of their 1040.

SIEGEL: And that number, 47 percent, is up from just a couple of years ago. What's the trend? By how much is it up and why?

Mr. WILLIAMS: Well, in 2007, just 38 percent of Americans didn't pay tax. It jumped to 49 percent for 2008, and 47 percent this year, primarily because of the stimulus bills that we've put in place trying to get the economy going again. In 2008, President Bush's stimulus payments sent $600 to individuals, $1,200 to couples, plus a little bit more if you had kids, and that all showed up as a tax reduction when you filed your income taxes.

This year we have the 2009 stimulus, which includes making work pay. Almost every American who works got benefit from that and a few other things that bring down tax bills.

SIEGEL: Now, let's look at this from the other end. If we take the higher income taxpayers, how much of the income tax do the taxpayers with the highest incomes pay?

Mr. WILLIAMS: Well, if we take a look at people with incomes, say, over $500,000. That's about one percent of all Americans. And the total share of taxes that they pay is about 24 percent. They have about 16 percent, 17 percent of income. They pay about half again that much share of taxes.

SIEGEL: And if we looked at, say, the top 20 percent, the top fifth of all incomes in the U.S., who would that be and how much do they pay?

Mr. WILLIAMS: The top fifth starts a little bit above $100,000. That group makes about 56 percent of all income and pay about 70 percent of all taxes.

SIEGEL: So when it comes to the federal income tax, at least, we have a progressive system. The more you make, the more you pay. The less you make, the less you pay. But we pay other taxes, most notably the federal payroll tax. How many Americans pay more in payroll tax, FICA tax, than in income tax?

Mr. WILLIAMS: If you consider both the share paid by the employee and by the employer, which most economists think is borne by the employee, about 75 to 80 percent of us pay more payroll tax than income tax. Only 13 percent don't pay either one of the taxes a far cry from the 47 percent who get out of the income tax.

SIEGEL: And for what percent is there actually a negative income tax? What percent is actually benefitting from, say, the earned income tax credit so that the federal government is giving them money?

Mr. WILLIAMS: We estimate perhaps 40 percent of more of Americans are getting some money back. That's because we've made a number of the credits refundable. So if it takes your taxes down to zero, it can take it below zero and result in a payment.

SIEGEL: Well, Mr. Williams, thank you very much for talking with us about it today.

Mr. WILLIAMS: It was my pleasure.

SIEGEL: That's Roberton Williams, senior fellow of the Tax Policy Center. That's a research think tank here in Washington, D.C. He used to work on tax analysis issues at the Congressional Budget Office.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

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Who Pays Taxes? Not As Many As You Think : NPR

All you Morons told me that 47% of Americans do not pay Federal Taxes here is one link from NPR who we fund

Time to go after those not in poverty for there fair share as the middle class and rich already pay the rest

[Peter Pan]

National Taxpayers Union - Who Pays Income Taxes?


Who Pays Income Taxes?


Who Pays Income Taxes and how much?

Tax Year 2008
Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$380,354
38.02

Top 5%
$159,619
58.72

Top 10%
$113,799
69.94

Top 25%
$67,280
86.34

Top 50%
$33,048
97.30

Bottom 50%
<$33,048
2.7

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


Tax Year 2007

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$410,096
40.42

Top 5%
$160,041
60.63

Top 10%
$113,018
71.22

Top 25%
$66,532
86.59

Top 50%
$32,879
97.11

Bottom 50%
<$32,879
2.89

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


Tax Year 2006

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$388,806
39.89

Top 5%
$153,542
60.14

Top 10%
$108,904
70.79

Top 25%
$64,702
86.27

Top 50%
$31,987
97.01

Bottom 50%
<$31,987
2.99

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2005

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$364,657
39.38

Top 5%
$145,283
59.67

Top 10%
$103,912
70.30

Top 25%
$62,068
85.99

Top 50%
$30,881
96.93

Bottom 50%
<$30,881
3.07

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2004

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$328,049
36.89

Top 5%
$137,056
57.13

Top 10%
$99,112
68.19

Top 25%
$60,041
84.86

Top 50%
$30,122
96.70

Bottom 50%
<$30,122
3.30

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2003

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$295,495
34.27

Top 5%
$130,080
54.36

Top 10%
$94,891
65.84

Top 25%
$57,343
83.88

Top 50%
$29,019
96.54

Bottom 50%
<$29,019
3.46

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2002

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$285,424
33.71

Top 5%
$126,525
53.80

Top 10%
$92,663
65.73

Top 25%
$56,401
83.90

Top 50%
$28,654
96.50

Bottom 50%
<$28,654
3.50

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2001
Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$292,913
33.89

Top 5%
$127,904
53.25

Top 10%
$92,754
64.89

Top 25%
$56,085
82.90

Top 50%
$28,528
96.03

Bottom 50%
<$28,528
3.97

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 2000

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$313,469
37.42

Top 5%
$128,336
56.47

Top 10%
$92,144
67.33

Top 25%
$55,225
84.01

Top 50%
$27,682
96.09

Bottom 50%
<$27,682
3.91

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service


For Tax Year 1999

Percentiles Ranked by AGI
AGI Threshold on Percentiles
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid

Top 1%
$293,415
36.18

Top 5%
$120,846
55.45

Top 10%
$87,682
66.45

Top 25%
$52,965
83.54

Top 50%
$26,415
96.00

Bottom 50%
<$26,415
4.00

Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service

The libs are playing on everyones minds on who pays enough or for that matter lots of Americans are not paying there fair share and that is the 47% who pay no federal taxes that are not in poverty

[Broken Wind]

Mofo ouch

[ChasC5]

Then Report Them: How to Contact the IRS

[Peter Pan]

Originally Posted by ChasC5

Then Report Them: How to Contact the IRS

Failed response, libs are going after the wrong taxpayers, the stats do not lie

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by Peter Pan

Failed response, libs are going after the wrong taxpayers, the stats do not lie

BS, if you or I run a business into the ground, who do you think bails us out, then gives us a Tax Cut to boot?

We're still waiting for those Jobs that was going to rain in; said the GOP.

Or did you forget already.