Greg Mankiw links this report based on Congressional Budget Office data. Here are my own charts created from the data:
The 2005 total effective federal tax rate as a percentage of the 1979 rate:
- Top Quintile = 92.7%
- Fourth Quintile = 82.1%
- Middle Quintile = 76.3%
- Second Quintile = 69.2%
- Bottom Quintile = 53.8%
The effects of the Bush Tax Cuts ? The 2005 total effective federal tax rate as a percentage of the 2000 rate.
- Top Quintile = 91.1%
- Fourth Quintile = 84.9%
- Middle Quintile = 85.5%
- Second Quintile = 76.2%
- Bottom Quintile = 67.2%
As repeatedly noted, the cuts cut a greater percentage for the bottom quintile than for the top. (32.8% vs. 8.9%) Even more interesting is the total effective federal tax rate for households with children:
The 2005 total effective federal tax rate as a percentage of the 1979 rate:
- Top Quintile = 101.2%
- Fourth Quintile = 85.0%
- Middle Quintile = 76.8%
- Second Quintile = 60.1%
- Bottom Quintile = 14.3%
As I showed in a post last month, the top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of federal income taxes. The top 25% of taxpayers pay 86% of income taxes.
Finally, keep in mind the New York Times article two weeks a ago that pointed out that while the bottom quintile has $9,974 in income per household a year it spends $18,153. That means non-cash assistance (as well draws on savings in the case of retired or unemployed payers) nearly doubles the actual income of the bottom quintile.
Rather than populist outcry over "tax cuts for the wealthy," maybe we need to look at the whole package of consequences that come from tax policy. Is the final objective really to have all taxes paid by the top 1% of society?
