Pop Quiz: Who Are the 47% -- And How Much Do They REALLY Pay?
- <p>
A. 46%<br />
B. 32%<br />
C. 18%<br />
D. 10%</p>
- <p>
Most tax filers pay payroll taxes like Social Security and Medicare. In fact, <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/federal-taxes-households.cfm" target="_blank">only 18.1%</a> don't send anything to the Federal government. Of these, almost 57% are elderly, and don't bring home a regular paycheck.</p>
- <p>
A. 1.2 million<br />
B. 162,000<br />
C. 53,000<br />
D. 2,000</p>
- <p>
More than <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/who-doesnt-pay-federal-income-taxes-legally/" target="_blank">162,000 people</a> who are among the top 10% of all earners -- basically, those who make over $163,173 -- didn't pay any federal income tax in 2011. Among the top 0.1% of filers -- the richest households in the country -- 3,000 (2.3% of them) didn't pay income tax in 2011.</p>
- <p>
A. Red states<br />
B. Blue states<br />
C. They're about equally distributed</p>
- <p>
Of the <a href="http://taxfoundation.org:81/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/UserFiles/Image/Fiscal%20Facts/20100524-229-nonpayers-map-.jpg" target="_blank">20 states</a> with the highest percentage of non-income tax-paying filers, twelve are firmly in the red camp. On the opposite end of the spectrum, just three of the 20 lowest-percentage states skew red.</p>
- <p>
A. 41%<br />
B. 37%<br />
C. 23%<br />
D. 12%</p>
- <p>
In terms of <a href="http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/04/who_pays_taxes_in_america.php" target="_blank">total effective tax rate</a> -- the total percentage of income that a taxpayer sends to the federal government, from excise taxes, corporate taxes, payroll taxes, and other levies -- the poorest fifth of Americans pays an average of 17.4%. The top 1% pays 29%, so they pay 11.6% more than the poorest 20%.</p>
- <p>
A. 67%<br />
B. 51%<br />
C. 34%<br />
D. 19%</p>
- <p>
The top 20% of taxpayers pay <a href="http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/04/who_pays_taxes_in_america.php" target="_blank">63.1% of all taxes</a> and take home 59.6% of all income. In fact, all income groups pay a percentage of the total federal tax revenue that is almost equal to the percentage of America's income that they take home.</p>
- <p>
A. The bottom 20% of earners </p>
<p>
B. The top 1% of earners</p>
- <p>
While <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2012/measure/tax-burden-by-income" target="_blank">state taxes vary</a> depending on where you live, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/02/13/how-state-taxes-put-a-bigger-pinch-on-the-poor/" target="_blank">every state hits the working class harder</a> than the top 1%. The best state is Vermont, where the richest 1% pay 7.5% of their income and the poorest 20% pay 8.2% -- or 1.1 times as much. The worst state is Washington, where the richest pay a measly 2.6% of their income and the poorest pay a staggering 17.3% -- or 6.7 times as much.</p>
- <p>
A. 20%<br />
B. 13%<br />
C. 7%<br />
D. 1%</p>
- <p>
In terms of <a href="http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/04/who_pays_taxes_in_america.php" target="_blank">total effective tax rate</a> -- the actual percentage of income paid into taxes, accounting for all credits, exemptions, deductions, and so forth -- the richest 1% of the country pays 29% of its income. The middle 20% pays 28.3%, or 0.7% less. For that matter, it's worth noting that the poorest 20%, the group least likely to pay federal income tax, still sends 17.4% of its wages to the taxman.</p>
- <h3>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-bailout-bonanza/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Bailout Bonanza!</a></h3>
<p>
</p>
<p>
Other Quizzes:</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-who-gets-benefits/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: Who Gets Benefits?</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/money-quiz/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: Do You Know the Cool Facts About Cold, Hard Cash?</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/small-business-quiz/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Quiz: The Small Business Impact</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/economic-quiz/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Quiz: The Economy and the Tax Gap in the United States</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-american-opportunity/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: American Opportunity</a></p>
<p>
</p>
