51% of households owed no federal income tax for 2009!
According to a study by the nonpartisan Joint Tax Commission. In fact, about 30% of all households got back a check for their full income tax bill and more due to refundable tax credits…the earned income credit, home buyer’s credit, the Making Work Pay credit and others.
Items of note on the data: They don’t take payroll taxes into account. So some of these households did have an overall tax bill. The recession hit and unemployment in 2009, boosted the numbers of low-incomers.