
COVID-19 economic restrictions and a progressive tax code resulted in a large majority of Americans bearing no net federal income tax burden for tax year 2020.
“The Tax Policy Center estimates that last year nearly 107 million households, or about 61 percent, owed no income tax or even received tax credits from the government,” explained Howard Gleckman of the the Tax Policy Center last Wednesday. “The spike is likely to be temporary, however. The share of non-payers will decline to about 102 million or 57 percent this year.”
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That number should return to the low 40’s by the end of the current decade assuming the economy grows past the current pandemic disruptions… and you also need to assume that extended unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, child credit checks, and other goodies eventually end.
Still, 2020’s shocking tax stats emphasize the long-standing trend of Americans “at the top” of the economic ladder providing an increasingly large percentage of the total federal income tax pie.
The next time you hear a liberal in your life complain about “the rich” refusing to pay “their fair share”?
Try not to laugh too hard.
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