I've been reading a lot of comments lately about outrage over Federal Income Taxes. It's been going around that 47% of American don't pay Federal Income Taxes. I've heard this before, but decided to finally do my own research on the matter. Here's what I've found: (and by the way, this is not a partisan posting. I'm seriously not interested in political bickering about this or that candidate. I'm just stating the facts).
1. It is NOT the case that 47% of Americans don't pay Federal Income Taxes. 47% of HOUSEHOLDS do not pay Federal Income Taxes (I read somewhere that it was more like 46%, but that's in the ballpark).
2. This does NOT mean that 47% of Households don't pay taxes. They do still pay Payroll Taxes (that support programs like Social Security and Medicare) and any state taxes that they may be responsible for (as we are in the State of Oklahoma) and also local sales taxes. I'm not saying that all 47% percent always pay these taxes; only that most do.
3. About half of these 47% don't pay Federal Taxes because of tax credits for children, work status, or education. But there are multitudes of tax credits; this is why there are many very wealthy people who pay no Federal Taxes (some say thousands of wealthy people don't pay, but who knows). Many of these credits were expanded under the Bush tax cuts (which received bi-partisan support).
4. The other half of the 47% are exempt from Federal Taxes because they are living in poverty.
I know it's easy to have immediate outrage. However, in all humility, I would hope that we would all recognize the complexities of the matter, coupled with the actual facts.
