Tax Day

As I sit here writing my check to Uncle Sam, I'm thinking how fortunate I am to live in this great country. Like most of us, I'd love to pay less tax but when I think about what I get for my money, it seems like a great value.

With this mindset, I was intrigued by the numbers included in a column by Matthew Miller, author and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. His analysis compared income taxes with total federal taxes and who's paying what. Here are his numbers:

Federal Revenue this year comes from:
Income tax = 42%
Payroll tax = 41%

Who pays (from 2001 returns - before current tax changes):
Top 1% of US taxpayers earn 17% of the income and pay 23% of federal taxes
Top 5% earn 31% of income and pay 40% of total taxes
Bottom 80% make 41% of the income and pay 31% of total taxes

Matthew's analysis reminded me that we should think about total taxes rather than just income taxes. While most of us are getting a great value, we should continue to strive toward that elusive standard of fairness.