Fun with Tax Numbers

I clicked on one of Blogger's "Blogs of Note" and found Citizens for Tax Justice. I knew right away that it was a liberal blog, but nothing much really fried me until I found this post, the 2003 analysis to be specific. It makes claims such as

This explosion in debt is a burden on all Americans. Over the six years, Bush’s policies will impose an average of just over $13,000 in additional debt on each man, woman and child in America—or more than $52,000 in added debt per family of four.

So I combined their raw numbers with some from The Tax Foundation.

The CTJ numbers lead one to believe that every "man, woman, and child" will have to pony up this money and that "all Americans" will bear the weight of this debt. In truth, the IRS received about 127.5 million returns with 42 million reporting no taxes owed.

[T]he rest of us will pay dearly for those upper-income tax cuts, as we confront
our share of the giant debt that Bush is building up.

From the Tax Foundation's wonderful report (its a pdf), the top two quintiles of Americans pay 91.7 percent of the income tax. They're rich of course. They should pay more. Did you know, however, that the bottom of the second highest quintile starts at $42,617? Here in King County, Washington, the median family income is over $66,000. I guess that means we're all rich here. The truth of the matter is we're all rich as far as the IRS is concerned.

As for the "giant debt" that "the rest of us will pay dearly for" again see the Tax Foundation Report. After running the numbers, each income tax filer in the lowest 20% of earners carries a burden of $298.04. Second and third lowest quintiles come in at $3278.43 and $8792.16. Bad, but not even close to the doom intimated by the CJT. The second highest quintile works out to $19074.51. While the highest quintile reaches $117576.47.

For comparison, the lowest 20% earns between $0 and $14280 per year. Second falls between $14280 and $25757. Third is between $25757 and $42617. The second highest falls between $42617 and $71028, while the highest is $71028 and above.

So, following the math, those poor people making less than $42617 a year do have it bad. They're responsible for as much as 23% of their income to pay off their share of the debt. I feel bad for them, I really do. Especially when I see that the hardest hit are those making just over $14280 paying 23%.

Of course I won't point out that those making just over $71028 are responsible for 165% of their income to pay their share of the debt. They're rich. Screw 'em.