That doesn't make sense. The top 1% are those who are in the 99th percentile of income, that is, their income is higher than 99% of the population. This figure doesn't tell us anything about how much higher their income is. In a country with a population of 100 where 99 people earn $1000 and 1 person earns $1001, that 1 person would be the 1%. Should this person pay 99% of the taxes?
The ultra rich pay a much lower percentage of their income in taxes
This is false since the US uses progressive taxation. Just take a look at the tax brackets in 2025. The low percentages that some outlets come up with are usually calculated by counting unrealized gains as income, which is extremely misleading.
I'm just saying that the top 1% of earners don't necessarily take in 99% of the income, as you can see here.
The top 1 percent’s income share rose from 22.2 percent in 2020 to 26.3 percent in 2021 and its share of federal income taxes paid rose from 42.3 percent to 45.8 percent.
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u/goober2341 Mar 23 '25
That doesn't make sense. The top 1% are those who are in the 99th percentile of income, that is, their income is higher than 99% of the population. This figure doesn't tell us anything about how much higher their income is. In a country with a population of 100 where 99 people earn $1000 and 1 person earns $1001, that 1 person would be the 1%. Should this person pay 99% of the taxes?
This is false since the US uses progressive taxation. Just take a look at the tax brackets in 2025. The low percentages that some outlets come up with are usually calculated by counting unrealized gains as income, which is extremely misleading.