IRS statistics : Rooftop Views

Rooftop Views

IRS statistics

The IRS just completed their analysis of 2004 tax returns, the most recent available - and the findings are very interesting, recently reported in the Kiplinger Tax Letter dated October 6, 2006. Relatively speaking, people that earn high incomes are shouldering a very large percentage of the overall taxes paid - in fact, the latest numbers show they are bearing the second highest burden since the 1986 Tax Reform Act passed.

Here are the "taxing" stats, which also make some interesting talking points...where do YOU fit in?

The top 1% of filers paid 36.9% of all income taxes, up from 34.3% the year before, but represented just 19% of total Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). An AGI of at least $328,000 was needed to be classified in the top 1%.
The top 5% of tax filers paid 57% of total income tax received by the IRS, and made 33% of total AGI. These filers all had incomes of $137,000 or more.
And the top 10% of all filers - those with AGI's of at least $99,100 - bore 68% of the income tax burden, but only represented about 44% of total Adjusted Gross Income.
The bottom 50% of filers paid just 3.3% of total income tax, down from 3.5% the prior year. This was the lowest figure in recent years.
The lowest-income earners actually had a NEGATIVE income tax rate, due to the Earned Income Credit refunding income and payroll taxes.