Bill Heller

The bottom 50% of U.S. taxpayers pay roughly 3% to 3.3% of all federal individual income taxes. [1] (taxfoundation.org/data/all/f…), [2] (tensorust.com/explainers/bot…) According to data from the IRS and the Tax Foundation: • Share of Income Tax: The bottom 50% account for about 3% to 3.3% of total federal income tax revenue collected. For recent tax years, this amounts to roughly $70 billion. [1] (taxfoundation.org/data/all/f…), [2] (tensorust.com/explainers/bot…) • Share of Income (AGI): This group earns approximately 11.5% to 12.3% of total adjusted gross income (AGI) nationwide. [1] (ntu.org/foundation/tax-page/…), [2] (adamnmichel.substack.com/p/t…) • Average Tax Rate: The average federal income tax rate for individuals in the bottom 50% is around 3.7% (and many pay $0 or receive a net refund due to standard deductions and refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit). [1] (ntu.org/foundation/detail/wh…), [2] (unitedcommonwealth.com/plan/…) Important Context While the bottom half of earners contribute a small fraction of federal individual income taxes, they pay a larger share of other federal, state, and local taxes. For example, regressive payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare take a larger percentage of gross wages for lower-income workers than they do for high-income earners, according to analysis from USAFacts Would you like to know more about: • How the average tax rate compares across different income brackets (like the top 1% or top 10%)? • How payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) impact the bottom 50%? • The income threshold that defines the bottom 50% of earners? Which of these would you like to explore?

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