|
No Adjusted Gross Income |
|
Information on your income group is listed below in Row 1. Information on two other groups is also listed for comparison. Row 2 has the stats on the 240 thousand people who have incomes of $1,000,000 or more. Row 3 has the data on the 129 million with incomes between $0 and $1,000,000. |
| Mean | 1976 | 1976-2000 | ||||||
| 2000 |
Percent |
Adjusted | Percent of | 2000 | After-tax | 1976-2000 | Percent of | |
| Row | Income | of all | Gross | Tax Rate | After-tax | Income | After-tax | After-tax |
|
# |
Range | Taxpayers | Income | Decrease | Income | (in 2000 $s) | Income Gain | Income Gain |
|
1 |
No AGI |
0.890% |
-$51,118 |
60.0% |
-$51,226 |
-$23,189 |
-$28,037 |
121% |
|
2 |
$1,000,000 or more |
0.19% |
$3,410,368 |
31.1% |
$2,466,127 |
$356,856 |
$2,109,271 |
591% |
|
3 |
No AGI to $1,000,000 |
99.81% |
$42,963 |
-7.4% |
$37,121 |
$32,038 |
$5,083 |
16% |
|
Row 1 is the report card for the 1.1 million-plus filers who claimed no adjusted gross income. Your average after-tax income decreased by a staggering 121%. The figures were skewed because the number of tax filers with No AGI increased by 50%. To match the population samples, the 1976 figure has 229,823 filers with $131 million worth of 1976 income. Having the portion of tax filers with No AGI increase by 50% is not a sign of prosperity. |
The productivity gains of the nation, as a whole, have led to an average increase in after-tax income of 28%. When we remove those with million-dollar-plus paychecks, the after-tax income gain for everyone else (Row 3) drops to 16%. How did nearly half of the growth of the economy end up in the hands of the top 1/5 of 1%? Row 2 shows that the richest few saw their taxes drop by over 31%. The various tax breaks have allowed these 240 thousand people to SAVE $102 billion in taxes in 1 year, while many Americans paid more than they had under the 1976 rates. |
|
n 1976, the richest few controlled 3% of the total income. After 20 years of sweetheart tax breaks, the share of the national income for the Superrich has increased to 13%. That amounts to $817 billion of the $6,365 billion year 2000 national paycheck. |
|
Last year's tax cut and the current proposed legislation will give the Superrich an even greater advantage. Isn't it time to demand that Congress stop these giant gifts and treat the rest of us fairly? |