I was having a discussion with one of my kids and somehow we got onto the topic of taxes. Since this was in the middle of tax season I don’t think I brought it up. It may have stemmed from a news story on the radio.
But my some was taking the stance that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share.
When I countered and stated that the bottom 45% of all tax filers (payers) don’t pay any income taxes at all he was unimpressed. Even when I pointed out that he personally paid not income tax, he still countered that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share.
I then brought up the fact that the top 10% of the tax payers pay approximately 80% of all income taxes he was unimpressed.
I obviously could not convince him that the wealthy pay the lion’s share of all the taxes: income, employment (both sides), sales, or property.
If they stopped paying them the government would crumble under the weight of the inflation of just printing bills. Civilizations would crumble under the thin veneer that exists.
But the mantra will seemingly be that the wealth don’t pay their fair share.
To be in the top 10% of taxpayers you only need AGI of approximately $120,000. This gets you into the strata that pay 80% of the income taxes. While still paying employment, sales and probably property taxes.