Some among upper-middle class don’t pay income taxes, either

4,025 number of people among the $75,000-$100,000 tax bracket who didn’t pay income taxes in 1996
476,624 number of people among the same tax bracket who didn’t pay income taxes in 2009 … wait a second source

» Beyond numbers, into percentages: Now, if you break this down by percentages among tax brackets, it’s still a fairly small number — 1 percent of the total number, versus 76 percent of people who made less than $25,000. But there’s a difference here — the people making between $75,000 and $100,000 can generally afford to pay taxes, and they’re the largest-growing group of the bunch. Now, what’s the reason for all this? Well, between 1996 and 2009, a couple of presidents (whom you might know as Bush and Obama) enacted a series of changes to the tax code which effectively made it possible for more people to receive tax cuts that whittled the amount owed down to nothing. They most likely pay taxes in other ways — payroll and sales tax, for example — however. Force them to pay, you take money out of the pockets of the poor. So, what’s the balance?

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$9.5 trillion the size of the deficits that will be required under current policies through 2021, the CBO says
$2.7 trillion the increase over the previous expected budget numbers – a huge leap, to say the least source

» Why is this? The CBO’s report says that in regards to what’s behind all this, “Of the various initiatives that the President is proposing, tax provisions would have by far the largest budgetary impact.” In layman’s terms, tax cuts — especially those for the middle class — are the largest factor affecting deficits. While he’s pushing for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations, they won’t offset the effect of the tax cuts. You know what’s funny though? Even though the CBO’s report specifically says this, the Washington Times reported this story as if spending was the culprit.

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$400 the size of the maximum tax cut for individuals ($800 for couples)
1:10 the ratio of people that realized they were actually getting a tax cut
8:10 the ratio who thought their taxes went up or stayed the same source

» Why nobody noticed: Well, Obama’s method for doling out the tax cuts was a little weird. Most people expect tax cuts on the back end, in the form of giant refund checks. Obama, on the other hand, put the cuts (as part of his $787 billion stimulus plan) directly in paychecks, to be distributed slowly, week to week. In a way, it’s brilliant because nobody thinks about a couple extra bucks in their paycheck and will spend the money like nothing ever happened. But in another way, it means the effects of the stimulus went unnoticed by millions of people. Hmm. For point of comparison, most people are well-aware of Bush’s tax cuts.

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09 Oct 2011 22:45