Courtesy of Mish.
Those who claim the to 10% don’t pay their fair share of income taxes need to consider the following chart.
Allegedly, the top 50% pays 10.5% of the taxes and the bottom 50% pays 2.8% of the taxes. This is mathematical idiocy.
Nonetheless, that chart is making the rounds.
I believe this is what they mean, but I did not verify.
Cross Check
| Category | Percent Taxes Paid | Running Tax Summation | Running Category Summation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | 39.5% | 39.5% | 1.0% |
| Next 5% | 20.5% | 60.0% | 6.0% |
| Next 25% | 15.9% | 75.9% | 31.0% |
| Next 10% | 10.9% | 86.8% | 41.0% |
| Next 9% | 10.5% | 97.3% | 50.0% |
| Bottom 50% | 2.8% | 100.1% | 100.0% |
Allowing for a small rounding error, the numbers cross foot in two ways, both totalling 100%.
I recall HowMuch (or someone else) approaching me a while back with that or a similar chart. I would not post it because it was mathematically incorrect. Instead, it is now floating around, flaws and all.
