Millionaires Pay Less than Middle Class

[RichardAWilson]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/report-one-in-four-millionaires-pays-less-in-taxes-than-the-middle-class/2011/10/12/gIQAh8XNfL_story.html

All told, 94,500 millionaires paid a smaller share of their income in taxes than 10 million households with moderate incomes, the report found.

[Robert]

From the article you cite:

Millionaires, on average, paid about 30 percent of their income in federal taxes, while households earning less than $100,000 paid closer to 19 percent.


Therefore, the title of this thread is dishonest and misleading.

[RGacky3]

are we including capital gains and dividends?

[RichardAWilson]

some households earning more than $1 million a year paid as little as 24 percent of their income to the Internal Revenue Service in 2006.

many families making less than $100,000 a year that faced a top effective tax rate exceeding 26.5 percent

I don't think the headline is misleading.

[RichardAWilson]

Although ordinary earnings are subject to payroll taxes as well as income tax rates as high as 35 percent, investment income — which constitutes the bulk of earnings for many very wealthy households — is taxed at no more than 15 percent.

[RichardAWilson]

All told, 94,500 millionaires paid a smaller share of their income in taxes than 10 million households with moderate incomes, the report found.:cool:

[Robert]

Although ordinary earnings are subject to payroll taxes as well as income tax rates as high as 35 percent, investment income — which constitutes the bulk of earnings for many very wealthy households — is taxed at no more than 15 percent.
Fine, say that, then.

But you're ignoring the fact that millionaire's usually have ordinary income as well, which is taxed at the max, and you're also ignoring that non-millionaires are allowed to make, and do make, investments as well. Their investment income is also taxed at lower rates. I'm not particularly scandalized by this anyway, since the seed for investments is money that is usually earned and already taxed at ordinary income rates. (Would it be better if they just bought Ferraris or took fancy vacations with their incomewith their gains instead of investing?)

And my larger point was that your title makes it appear that all or substantially all millionaires pay less than the middle class, and your own article says it is referring only to "a quarter" of millionaires.

Fix the title or be dishonest, Richard.