Millionaire Tax (Federal) Rate 22%? ☀
“…the average federal income tax rate for millionaires in America is around 22% - far less than what your typical schoolteacher in Wisconsin is paying. And despite the fact that a majority of Americans support tax hikes on millionaires – our millionaires – as well as billionaires – and transnational corporations – once again escaped without having to make one sacrifice in the name of deficit reduction like the rest of us.” — Thom Hartmann (via azspot)This doesn’t sound right. I agree top marginal rates are absurdly low and that we have to consider taxes beside the federal income tax, but what is the source for the “typical schoolteacher in Wisconsin” paying more than a 22% average federal income tax rate?
Looking at CBO data from 2007, households in the 4th Highest Quintile (average pre-tax income $94,100, equivalent to two average-salaried Wisconsin teachers) paid an average of 17.4% of their income in all federal taxes, not just individual income tax.
Perhaps this statistic was captured from from this recent article from the Center for American Progress:
Millionaires paid an average tax rate of 22.4 percent in 2009, down by a quarter since 1995, when they paid an average of 30.4 percent.
Source listed is Internal Revenue Service, Publication 1304 (tax year 2009)
