In this blog post, I am just providing a link to an article, Wealth, Income, and Power, by G. William Domhoff of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The article provides an historical perspective on wealth and income distributions in the United States as well as giving information on the proportion of income paid in taxes by income classes. While those with the lowest incomes in the United States do not pay much in federal taxes, the group pays quite a bit in state and local taxes. From a graphic in the article linked below, the lowest 20% in income pay about 16% of their income in taxes – mostly state and local – about 1/4 of the class’s taxes are federal taxes, the next 20% income class (20% to 40%) pays about 20%, of its income in taxes, the next 20% income class (40% to 60%) pays about 25% of its income in taxes, the next 20% income class (60% to 80%) pays about 28% of its income in taxes, and the highest 20% income class (80% to 100%) pays about 31% of its income in taxes – about 2/3 of which is federal taxes. The proportion of income paid in federal taxes increases with each of the income classes as income increases. Here is the link. Enjoy!!!
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