Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

The bulk of the U.S. tax burden is carried by only about half of the nation's households and taxpayers.

According to statistics provided by the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. taxpayers paid at the following rate in 2008, the most recent year for which comprehensive figures are available. The data was updated in 2010.

The top 1%, ranked by adjusted gross income of at least $380,354, paid 38.02% of federal personal income taxes.  (but earned 49.4% of Income)

The top 5%, ranked by adjusted gross income of at least $159,619, paid 58.72% of federal income taxes. 

The top 10%, ranked by adjusted gross income of at least $113,799, paid 69.94% of federal income taxes.

The top 25%, ranked by adjusted gross income of at least $67,280, paid 86.34% of federal income taxes.

The top 50%, ranked by adjusted gross income of at least $33,048, paid 97.30% of federal income taxes.

The bottom 50%, ranked by adjusted gross income of less than $33,048, paid 2.7% of federal income taxes. (3.6% of Income)

Since 1969, the share of aggregate household income controlled by the lowest income quintile has decreased from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent in 1997, while the share to the highest quintile increased from 43.0 percent to 49.4 percent. Most noticeably, the share of income controlled by the top 5 percent of households has increased from 16.6 percent to 21.7 percent.