Third Of Eligible Voters Pay 97 Percent Of US Income Taxes: Chart Of Income Taxes Paid By Income Group

Chart from the Tax Foundation of the amount of income tax paid by each income group in "Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data" by Mark Robyn and Gerald Prante:

Summary of Federal Individual Income Tax Data, 2008

(Updated October 2010)

	Number of Returns with Positive AGI	AGI  ($ millions)	Income Taxes Paid  ($ millions)	Group's Share of Total AGI	Group's Share of Income Taxes	Income Split Point	Average Tax Rate
All Taxpayers	139,960,580	8,426,625	1,031,512	100%	100%	-	12.24%
Top 1%	1,399,606	1,685,472	392,149	20.00%	38.02%	$380,354	23.27%
1-5%	5,598,423	1,241,229	213,569	14.73%	20.70%		17.21%
Top 5%	6,998,029	2,926,701	605,718	34.73%	58.72%	$159,619	20.70%
5-10%	6,998,029	929,761	115,703	11.03%	11.22%		12.44%
Top 10%	13,996,058	3,856,462	721,421	45.77%	69.94%	$113,799	18.71%
10-25%	20,994,087	1,821,717	169,193	21.62%	16.40%		9.29%
Top 25%	34,990,145	5,678,179	890,614	67.38%	86.34%	$67,280	15.68%
25-50%	34,990,145	1,673,932	113,025	19.86%	10.96%		6.75%
Top 50%	69,980,290	7,352,111	1,003,639	87.25%	97.30%	>$33,048	13.65%
Bottom 50%	69,980,290	1,074,514	27,873	12.75%	2.70%	<$33,048	2.59%
Source: Internal Revenue Service

For example, the above Tax Foundation table shows that the top 10 percent in income of taxpayers, those making more than $113,799 per year, paid 70 percent of all individual income taxes. The bottom 50 percent of taxpayers paid only 2.7 percent of US income taxes.

There are about 230 million people in the US over 25 years old and about 190 million between the ages of 25 and 65 years old. In 2008, only 140 million individual returns with positive income were filed, which is pretty close to the number of working individuals.

In 2008, there were about 213 million eligible US voters. Less than 7 percent of eligible voters are paying 70 percent of the US income tax. 33 percent of eligible voters are paying 97 percent of US income taxes.