Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
America's wealthy paying more than their fair share
By Mary Lazich
Monday, Nov 26 2007, 10:30 AM
The top one percent of federal income taxpayers in America pays more than the bottom 90 percent.
That is the finding from the very latest data from the Internal Revenue service as reported by the non-partisan Tax Foundation in Washington D.C.
The Tax Foundation reports:
Do America’s wealthy pay their fair share of taxes? Most politicians say they don’t. But a new Tax Foundation study of IRS tax returns shows the highest-earning Americans pay an overwhelmingly large share of the nation’s income tax burden.
According to the study, America’s richest 25 percent of taxpayers paid about 86 percent of all federal income taxes in 2005, despite earning only 67 percent of the nation’s income. The highest-earning 1 percent alone—those earning more than $364,657—paid a staggering 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes, despite earning just 21 percent of the nation’s income.
That means the top 1 percent of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal income tax as the bottom 95 percent of tax returns combined.
“These new data overturn the widespread misconception that high-earners in America don’t pay federal income taxes,” said Tax Foundation President Scott A. Hodge. “The federal tax code today is heavily skewed toward imposing very high tax burdens on high earners.”
Here is the full report from the Tax Foundation.
