Spence wrote:Today I heard the a guy on the news that said 45% of people in this country do not pay any tax - once refunds are handed out. Maybe two stories later they read a poll that said 55% of people thought taxes were unfair and 45% said the tax structure was about right.
It is hard for me to believe that we have 45% of people in this country who do not pay any income tax.
I could have given you that number! I have been touting that for a few years now. Not too hard to figure...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_StatesYou can see that Income up to $35k you encapsulate 37.71% of Americans (but this is households). At that level single people with no kids would pay some tax, if you have lingering 1040s in your head you can probably figure that. So you could pretty much take out 3%. Age 22-27 is about 1/9th of the labor force. ~40% would have no dependents. They'd have to pay. But you could make up that percentage and more up through $55 or 60k per year. With EIC and dependents helping a good deal through $42k. Above that you make up more with younger married couples who have a few kids and a mortgage.
And even 6 years ago the number was already 32.4%.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/542.htmlThere are many more breaks now, more part-timers, and lower paying jobs.
The sad part of all of this...THIS IS INCOME HAVING AMERICANS! This doesn't include all of those who don't work at all and those who work under the table exclusively. Many non-workers would be included. Those who get SSI and Cash assistance could file..and very likely would as they not only pay tax but get a fat check in return.
So you are talking about over 50% of Americans of working age didn't pay taxes last year. And something around 2/3 to 7/8ths of those got money back beyond a full return...from just a few dollars up to even $5.5k.