According to the latest figures released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):
- In 2016, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 3 percent.
- The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (37.3 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (30.5 percent).
- The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 26.9 percent individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.7 percent).
“The rich” are also punished through the phase-out of tax exemptions, deductions, and credits as their income rises.Yet, according to Democratic politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Senator Hillary Clinton, “the rich” are still not paying enough in taxes.
Senator Warren has proposed a “wealth tax” on the richest Americans:
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We need structural change. That’s why I’m proposing something brand new – an annual tax on the wealth of the richest Americans. I’m calling it the “Ultra-Millionaire Tax” & it applies to that tippy top 0.1% – those with a net worth of over $50M.
Her proposal would “assess a 2 percent annual wealth tax on individuals with more than $50 million in net worth, increasing to 3 percent on those with more than $1 billion in wealth.”
Representative Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a higher income tax on the richest Americans:
You look at our tax rates back in the ’60s, and when you have a progressive tax-rate system, your tax rate, let’s say, from $0 to $75,000 may be 10% or 15%, etc. But…