Canadians (yes, I am one of them) are sometimes led to believe that the Canadidan tax system is much more redistributive than in the U.S. I am not sure whether this is true or not, but I came across this article today that made me reflect on this: Nearly Half of U.S. Households Escape Fed Tax.
Some interesting tidbits:
[1] About 47% of Americans will pay no federal income tax in 2009
[2] The top 10% of earners pay about 73% of all income tax collected by the federal government
[3] The bottom 40% of earners will (on average) pay negative taxes (are net recipients of transfer income)
David,
ReplyDeleteYes, we exploiters of the poor do pay most of the taxes. And yet, the income gap keeps increasing - surely a sign we are further exploiting the poor!
But, marginal tax rates add a great deal to this discussion. I have this CBO report from 2005 that I like to show my class regarding marginal tax rates when we discuss the idea of disposable income and incentives. You may enjoy it.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/68xx/doc6854/11-10-LaborTaxation.pdf
Prof J: thanks for that report!
ReplyDeleteThat report was helpful as months went by. It is something that can be a base for change.
ReplyDelete