Sinc e193 7TAXFOUNDATION

TAX FEATURESwww.taxfoundation. org

April 1999 Volume 43, Number 4

Tax Freedom a 1999 Hits May 11, latest Eve rGovernment Coffers Overflow with Surplus Tax Collection s

132

130

128

126NTm

124May 4

TNa

ro 122 May 2o

120

Apr 3 0

118

Apr 29

Apr 28

Apr 27 *

11 6

114 1

1

1

1

1

1

How much does America pay to support it sgovernment? With its annual calculation ofTax Freedom Day® , the Tax Foundation an-swers that question every April 15th in a waythat everyone can understand .

May 1 0

May 7May 5* j

May 3May 2

May 2~May 1

Apr 30* May 1Apr 29* Apr 30

We do so by looking at the calendar andasking, "What if the government had starte dwithholding every penny of Americans' collec-tive paychecks on January 1, 1999? How longwould it have to keep all our earnings until i thad collected enough to pay all federal, stateand local taxes?"

This year, the Tax Foundation estimate sthat on average U .S . citizens will be free t ostart keeping their money on May 11 . Tha tmakes Tax Freedom Day 1999 the latest o nrecord—a day later than last year, and 11 clay slater than its low point this decade in 1993when Tax Freedom Day was April 30 .

Economists Patrick Fleenor and Scot tMoody observe in their 1999 report (see Publi-cation Summary on page 2) that while thecountry's tax burden remained relatively con-stant during the early 1990s, a rapid increas ein the overall level of taxation has occurred i nrecent years (see Figure 1 at left . )

The Tax Foundation attributes the steadyrise in Tax Freedom Day to several factors ,including the 1990 and 1993 tax increases ,continued economic expansion, and the pro-gressive nature of the current tax system —which, as national income rises, causes the taxburden to rise more than proportionally .

Tax Freedom Day continued on page 2

Figure 1 : Tax Freedom Da y1980-199 9

/Apr 2 9

May 3

May 1 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Source : Tax Foundation

To Be Fair and Effective, Tax CutsMust Be Broad-Based

Senator Spencer Abraham (I?-M/)

4-5

2

Tax Freedom Day , from page 1

Tax Freedom Day by Type of TaxAmericans face a plethora of differ-

ent taxes in their day-to-day lives . Fig-ure 2 presents a breakdown of thenation's tax bill for 1999 by type of tax .

Individual income taxes are thelargest component of Americans' ta xbills, and in 1999, Americans on averag ewill have to work 49 days to pay them .It will take 37 days to earn enough fo rpayroll taxes, which fund social insur-ance programs such as Social Securityand Medicare .

The prices of nearly all goods an dservices are raised by sales and excisetaxes, and on average, Americans wil lwork 17 days to pay these types o ftaxes . Another 11 days will be spentworking to pay property taxes, which

are primarily levied by state and loca lgovernments . Americans will then haveto work an additional 12 clays to paytheir share of corporate income taxes .While largely unnoticed, corporat eincome taxes are ultimately paid b yconsumers, employees, and sharehold-ers . Finally, Americans will spend an -other five days working to pay otherbusiness and miscellaneous taxes .

Tax Freedom Day MethodologyTax Freedom Day is a concept use d

by the Tax Foundation to illustrate theshare of Americans' annual income thatgoes to pay federal, state, and loca ltaxes . (See history of the concept o npage 3 .) For illustrative purposes i tassumes that income is earned evenlythroughout the year and that individu-als initially devote all of their earning sto paying their taxes . The day that

Americans on average are "free" t ospend their income on other goods andservices is Tax Freedom Day.

Determining the national Tax Free-dom Day involves projecting an overallaverage tax rate for the nation, whichFoundation economists do by consult-ing data from the federal government' sNational Income and Product Account s(NIPA) published by the Departmentof Commerce's Bureau of EconomicAnalysis .

Dividing the nation's per capita taxburden ($10,298) by per capita income($28,878), the nation's average tax ratefor the year is determined—35 .7 per-cent in 1999 . That percentage is the napplied to a calendar year to provide agraphic illustration of the national ta xburden. Thus, 35 .7 percent of 365 daysis 131 days—which means that the131st clay of the year, May 11, is TaxFreedom Day.

Complying with the Tax CodeWhile the Tax Foundation includes

every federal, state, and local levy thatNIPA defines as a "tax," it does not in-clude the cost of complying with th etax system . If the cost of complyingwith just the federal code were in-cluded, Fleenor and Moody estimatethat Tax Freedom Day would be pushedback another 12 days . e

Publication Summary

General : Special Report No . 87 ; ISS N1068-0306 ; 8pp . ; $10 or $50/yr . for 1 0Special Reports on varied fiscal issue sTitle : Tax Freedom Day to Arrive May 1 1in 1999Authors : Patrick Fleenor & J . Scot tMoodyDate : April 1999Subject : Calculation of the total effec-tive tax rate for the United States, andfor each of the 50 states plus the Distric tof ColumbiaTables : Tax Freedom Day & Total Effec-tive Tax Rate, Selected Years 1902 -1999; Tax Freedom Day by State, Se-lected Years 1970-1999 ; Taxes Pe rCapita and as a Percentage of Income ,1999; Average Number of Days Fo rState Residents to Earn Enough Incom eto Pay Tax Bill, 1999 ; Tax Bite in th eEight-Hour Day, Selected Years 1902-1999; Tax Bite in the Eight-Hour Day b yState, 199 9

Figure 2 : Average Number of Days Worked to Pay Taxes by Typ eof Tax and Level of Government

1999

49 Day s

137 Days

117 Days 11 Days

v

12 Days 2 Days

L3 Days

v

Source : Tax Foundatio n

Individua lIncom eTaxes

AllOthe rTaxes

(Federal

I Federal

33 Days40 Days

State &

State & \

/ State &Loca l

9 Days

7'z-Federa l

0 Days *Federa l

State &Local

State &Loca l

Federal

4 Day s

Local

4 Days

Loca l

13 Days

3

Tax Concepts that Made a Difference

"Tax Freedom Day" and "T Bite in the Eight Hour Day "Help erica Understand vSince 1937, the Tax Foundation has relied on a variety of

analyses and symbols to help Americans better understan d

the role taxes play and the changing level of taxation in soci-

ety — all with varying levels of success .

One of the first such efforts revolved around the story o f

"Henry Suburban" (seen at right), introduced in 1948 and

featured every few years for a quarter-of-a century . Henry' s

role was to demonstrate the many ways that ordinary Ameri-

cans encounter direct and hidden taxes on a daily basis .

Yet no Tax Foundation creation has had a greater long -

term impact on public perceptions than that of "Tax Freedom

Day" and the "Tax Bite in the Eight-Hour Day."

The Tax Bite was first introduced in 1954 (see box be -

low), to provide a way for Americans to better visualize that portion of the budget dedicated to taxes . The Foundation has

updated the Tax Bite in the Eight-Hour Day annually since then. (In recent years the Tax Bite analysis has been included

within the annual Tax Freedom Day study. )

Monthly Tax Features, Vol. 1, Number 1August 195 4

THE TAX BITE IN THE 8-HOUR DAYAre you shocked by the fact that all government Federal, state an d

local—will collect about $90 billion in taxes this year? Probably not ,because that figure is just too big for most of use even to understand .

How about this one : would you be shocked to discover that you workmuch longer to pay taxes than you do to buy food ; that you work nearl ytwice as long for taxes as you do for your housing costs, and four time sas long for taxes as for your clothing or your transportation ?

Putting the tax burden on a daily work basis for the first time, the TaxFoundation (a private research organization) has discovered that it take sa $4,500-a-year man 2 hours and 35 minutes of his eight-hour work da yto earn enough to pay for taxes . The taxes included are both direct andindirect, not forgetting the taxes hidden in the cost of many things w ebuy.

In contrast to this heavy tax burden, the same man works only I hou rand 37 minutes to pay for food for his family . He works I hour and 24minutes of each day for housing costs, 36 minutes for clothing, and 4 2minutes for transportation .

Here is how his eight-hour work day is divided :

Toearn money for

Needed Tim e

Taxes 2 hr. 35 min .Food 1 hr. 37 min .Clothing 2 hr. 24 min .Transportation 36 min .Medical and personal care 23 min .Reading and recreation 20 min .Other goods and services 23 min .

Tarot 8 hr.

If you wonder where thee recent Federal tax reductions fit into th epicture, here is the answer: last year this man worked 2 hours and 4 0minutes to pay for his taxes . On that basis we might guess that he save sabout two minutes of the time spent working for taxes whenever the gov -ernment knocks a billion off its tax take .

Tax Freedom Day's OriginatorThe concept of Tax Freedom Day actually precedes th e

Tax Bite by six years : Its origin can be traced to Florid a

businessman Dallas Hostetler, who devised the idea in 1948and registered it with the U .S . Copyright Office in 1953 .When he retired in the early 1970s, he assigned the concep t

to the Tax Foundation, which started publicizing the date i n

1972 (see article below) . •

Monthly Tax Features, Vol. 16, Number 4April 1972

Taxes Take More Bread ThanFood, Clothing and Shelte r

Tax Freedom Day, some -thing less than a national hol-iday, will come earlier thi syear, on April 27, says Ta xFoundation .

By that date the averag eAmerican will have earne denough to pay his Federal ,state and local tax bills fo r1972 .

On a daily basis, the Foun-dation calculates the averag etaxpayer this year is puttin gin 2 hours and 34 minutes o fhis eight hour day to pay fo rgovernment, about three min-utes longer than he works topay for food, clothing an dshelter combined .

On a weekly basis the bit eon the average America nthrough withholding taxes ,sales taxes and hidden taxe sin the price of most things h ebuys, as well as his weekl yshare of property and othe rtaxes, takes 12 hours and 3 0minutes worth of his 40-hou rpay .

For the man who likes to getthe heavy job out of the wayfast, he can, suggests Ta xFoundation, work str aigh tthrough until April 27 . By th eend of the first 117 calenda rdays of the year, his pay wil lcover his 1972 tax bill .

4

Tax cuts should affect as many people as possibleso that their benefits may be felt throughout ou rnation and economy. Tax cuts should not tellpeople how to spend their own money, and theyshould not complicate the tax code, which isalready 5.6 million words long.

combined—spending more than 38percent on taxes and only 28 percenton food, clothing and housing .

Washington currently takes 2 1percent of the national income in taxes .That's $6,810 for every man, womanand child in this country . The real ques-tion, then, is not whether tax cuts areneeded, but what kind .

Some people propose tax cuts tha treward people for doing certain, highlyspecific things with their money. Forexample, while raising overall taxes andfees $162 billion, the Clinton Adminis-tration also wants to provide a 15 per -

To Be Fair andEffective, TaxCuts Must BeBroad-Based .

U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Ml)

Republicans in Congress have agreed touse 62 percent of our projected $2 .6trillion budget surplus to shore up So-cial Security. The Clinton Administra-tion wants to spend the rest . But th eAmerican people agree with Republi-cans that it should be used to reduc ethe tax burden . At a recent town meet-ing in Macomb County, I asked almost500 Michiganians whether middle clas sAmericans should have a tax cut . Al-most all of them raised their hands .

American middle class familie sneed a tax cut .They are now taxed at ahigher rate than at any time since Worl dWar II . Not even at the height of th eVietnam War have the American peopl eseen such a large part of their pay take naway from them in the form of taxes .

Since the current Administrationcame into office in 1993, federal taxe shave gone up by over 54 percent, orover $600 billion.The typical familynow pays more in total taxes than i tspends on food, clothing and shelter

FRONT & CENTE R

cent credit for rooftop solar water heat-ingsystems, but only if used for pur-poses other than heating swimmin gpools . And the Administration „ouldgive tax credits to companies teachingEnglish to their immigrant workers

These may be laudable actions, but

don't all Americans deserve a break ?

Some people even try to paint th eClinton Administration's `USAAccoun t

as a tax cut . The Administration wouldsubsidize Americans who invest in spe-cific savings accounts . People shouldsave for their future, but giving moneyto people who make particular saving schoices is not a tax cut .

What, then are the proper prin-ciples for cutting taxes? I believe tax

cuts should be broad-based. What doesthat mean? First, they should affect asmany people as possible so that thei rbenefits may be felt throughout ournation and economy. Second, tax cut sshould not tell people how to spendtheir own money. Third, they shouldnot complicate the tax codes which i salready 5 .6 million words long . Finally,they should eliminate disincentivesalready in the code .

I have advocated an across-the-board cut in income tax rates becauseit is the most broad-based tax cut avail-able . Every taxpayer would see thesame percentage rate cut, with no addi-tional rules or regulations . Familiescould save, spend or invest the moneyas they see fit . Along these same lines, Iwould expand the lowest, 15 percen ttax bracket . Currently, a marriedcouple with taxable income just ove r$43,000 per year is forced into the 28percent tax bracket . More middle-classpeople should remain in the 15 percentbracket, allowing them to keep more ofwhat they earn .

In addition, I believe Washington

5

must cut taxes in ways that directlyremove disincentives from the tax code .For example, the marriage penalty,which taxes couples at a higher rate ifthey are married than if they are not, i sunfair and should be eliminated . Wealso should repeal the ClintonAdministration's hike in the tax on

Social Security benefits . This hike dis-courages seniors from preparing for

security in old age .Likewise, the estate tax discourages

Americans from working and investingto pass on savings or the family busi-ness to their children and should b ereformed. Our tax code's double taxa-tion of interest and dividends also dis-courages saving . Roth IRAs and other

tax exemptions for interest and divi -

dends should be expanded.Some people, particularly in the

Clinton Administration, have com-plained that broad-based tax cuts dis-proportionately benefit the rich . This i snot true. Presidents Kennedy an dReagan cut taxes across the board dur -

ing the 1960sand 1980s . Inboth instance slower rate slessened theincentive tohide incomeand producedan increase inthe proportion

of taxes paid b ythe rich . Afte rthe Kennedy taxcuts, the shareof income taxpaid by those

making over $100,000 per year climbe dfrom 5.1 percent to 7 .6 percent be-tween 1963 and 1965 . After the Reagancuts, the share of income taxes paid b ythe top 10 percent of earners increase dfrom 48 percent in 1981 to 57 .2 per-cent in 1988 .

Broad-based tax cuts are good fo rall Americans . For example, the 1 0percent across-the-board income tax

rate cut would allow a single personearning $35,000 per year to save $455per year. A married two earner coupl eearning $60,000 per year would save$780 . A small business owner withtypical earnings of $42,000 would save

$651 .And this broad-based tax cut woul d

be a much-needed economic insurancepolicy against a future economic slow-down.According to Dr. Lawrenc eLindsey, a former governor of the Fed-eral Reserve,"a 10 percent across-the-board income tax cut would put about$70 billion in the hands of consumers ,

maintaining both consumption growthand personal savings ."

For people concerned about thenational debt, I will propose adding abox to federal tax forms, similar to th ePresidential election campaign box,which taxpayers can check if they pre-fer to use their tax cut to reduce thedebt . They also could keep the tax cu tfor their families . Both options areimportant enough that I believe Ameri-cans should make the choice .

The Tax Foundation invites a nationa lleader to provide a "Front and Center "column each month in Tax Features .The views expressed are not necessaril ythose of the Tax Foundation .

Clinton Administration complaintsthat broad-based tax cutsdisproportionately benefit the richare not true. Presidents Kennedyand Reagan cut taxes across theboard during the 1960s and 1980s,lessening the incentive to hide incomeand producing an increase in theproportion of taxes paid by the rich.

G

State T Freedom Days Differ Widely,Refl mg al Econo es d T

toAlabama To Celebrate First on April 30; Connecticut's May 22 is Last

The tax burden borne by differen tstates varies considerably, not only be -cause residents of different states fac edifferent state and local taxes, but alsobecause they pay dissimilar federa ltaxes . The map below shows howmany clays, on average, each state' sresidents must work until they haveearned enough to pay their federal ,state and local tax bills .

Connecticut's total tax burden i sthe heaviest among the 50 states, s otaxpayers there can't celebrate TaxFreedom Day until May 22 . This yearthe federal government will collec t$11,395 in tax revenue for every man,

woman and child in the state . An addi-tional $4,744 will be collected by stateand local governments for a total pe rcapita tax bill of $16,139. Put in termsof "tax freedom," all of the incomeearned during the first 100 clays of th eyear will be used to pay federal taxes ,then 41 more clays will be necessary t ocover state and local taxes .

New York is the only other statethat will celebrate Tax Freedom Day o nthat late date .

At the other end of the tax burdenspectrum are states with relatively earlyTax Freedom Days . Residents of Ala-bama will bear the lowest average tax

burden in 1999. While the federal gov-ernment will collect an average of$5,357 in taxes for every resident, stateand local governments will collect$2,264 for a total per capita tax bill of$7,621 . On average, therefore, Alabam-an, can expect to devote 84 days 'worth of income to federal taxes . In-come they earn during the next 35 dayswill be used to pay state and local taxes .That brings the total clays worked forgovernment to 119, which makes Apri l30th Tax Freedom Day in Alabama .

Only two other states will celebrateTax Freedom Day inApril,Arkansas an dWest Virginia, both on the 30th . 0

WAMay 17

M TMay 5

Tax Freedom Day by State1999

N HVT May 1

May 9N

M EMay1 3N D

May 2

NY M Aay 1 2May 2 2

MIMay14

R ICT May 1 2

PAMay 8

May 22N J

I NMay 8

O HMay10

DE May 1 8

May 3W V

Apr 30 VAMay 6

M D\DC May1 0

KYMay 4

May 2 3

NC ~TN May 3 2May 3

- - 1SCMay 6

ORMay 8

S DMay 2

I DMay 8

M NMay 21

WIMay 1 8

W YMay12

I AMay 5N E

May 8I L

May1 3UT

May 7

NVMay 14

C OMay 4 KS

May 7

CAMay 11 M O

May 5

-

AZMay 10 O K

May 2N MMay 9

A RApr 30

F LMay1 4

T XMay 4

May 12 or later

May7-May1 1

May 6 or earlier

G AMay 7A L

Apr 3 0MS

May 4

p CJ

H IMay 11

7

Reporters and Republicans are united i nasking the question : Why don't Ameri-cans demand a tax cut ?

Nearly every day, economists at th eTax Foundation are asked this question .With the tax burden rising year after year,the question has taken on an almost meta-physical dimension, not unlike the title ofthat popular book,"Why Do Bad Thing sHappen to Good People? "

This year's increase in lax FreedomDay to May 11th underscores the para-dox. Tax Freedom Day has now risen fo rseven consecutive years . For 26 year sbetween 1969 and 1994, Tax Freedo mDay varied in a fairly narrow range be-tween April 28 and May 4 . It is now 7days above its previous cyclical peak . Thesource of the increase remains the sameas it was last year and the year before :the combination of a growing economyand a progressive federal personal in-come tax. Even the 1997 tax cut billbarely slowed its rise .

Nor is the increase in the tax burde nas measured by Tax Freedom Day anoma-lous . An alternative presentation, the pe rcapita tax burden, shows a similar pat -tern . It rose to $9,939 in 1998, an in-crease of $1,679 in real terms since 1990 .

Common government statistics givethe same result . For example, taxes as ashare of Gross Domestic Product rose t o20 .7 percent . This was the second high-est ever, exceeded only in 1944 at theheight of World War II spending .

The good news associated with thissoaring tax burden is the demise of th eFederal budget deficit . Revenues haveaccelerated faster than the Congress andthe President have been able to spen dthem. Revenues have grown so fast . i nfact, that huge surpluses are projected forthe next ten years or longer.

'lb be sure, millions of Americans maybe clamoring for a tax cut, but the vas tbulk of the body politic seems disinter-ested. The story goes that in the day swhen Wilbur Mills ran the powerfu lI-Iouse Ways and Means Committee hi sChief of Staff would come up to the

Chairmanwhenever thetax burde nstarted push-ing 20 per-cent of GDPand tell himit's time for atax cut . Con-ventional wisdom had it that tax compli-ance would plummet, taxpayer resistancewould erupt, and the economy woul dfalter whenever taxes got above tha tmagic figure . What has changed?

No doubt much has changed . Onechange may simply be that wages arerising steadily and strongly and so taxpay-ers don't feel overtaxed . A worker with$20,000 in after-tax income is more inter-ested in a $1,000 wage hike than he is i na $500 tax credit . As long as their wage sand standards of living are rising, taxpay-ers are unlikely to bridle much at a highertax bill .

Another factor is the evolution of th eincome tax . Through the reforms of pastyears the federal personal income tax ha sbecome a true class tax. Low-incom eworkers are likely to be subject to a nega-tive income tax through various refund-able tax credits . Middle-income workersare likely to pay little income tax andwhat they do pay is at a marginal rate o f15 percent . In contrast, the top 5 percen tof taxpayers by income are paying ove rhalf the total income tax burden . Thu smany lower-income taxpayers probabl ydon't feel the pinch of the higher tax bite ,and many qualify for the newly effectiveper child tax credit .

Also, while the top income earnersbear most of the income tax, governmen tstatistics suggest they also have tended t oearn proportionately more of the incom eincreases in recent years . Thus, eventhough they face a marginal tax rate ap-proaching 40 percent, their incomes maywell be rising fast enough to guarantee asatisfactory year-to-year increase in livingstandards . Thus they, too, may not be overl yexercised about their rising tax burden .

The huge increase in the stock mar-ket may also play a role here . Even whileincomes have been rising, middle- andupper-income taxpayers—the folks pay-ing the bulk of the heavy income taxburden—have also been receiving th ebulk of the wealth appreciation. This mayfurther deaden any natural tax revolt zeal .

Fiscal prudence may also play a role .For example, while economists may con-fidently predict large budget surpluses fo ryears to come, taxpayers can be excusedfor having their doubts . And most taxpay-ers probably strongly prefer budget sur-pluses to deficits, so they are loath to riskhaving the government drop back intodeficits due to a tax cut right now.

Tax cuts are part and parcel of thepolitical debate, and President Clinton' sinfluence cannot be denied . He has effec-tively and appropriately elevated savingSocial Security and Medicare to national

priorities . These two critical programs areprojected to go bankrupt . Unless some -thing better comes along to replace them ,most taxpayers probably want to see thes eprograms sustained . The President hasargued that Social Security and Medicaremust be saved before we can consider taxcuts . This seems to strike the America npeople as a reasonable proposition .

While elevating the issues, thePresident's lack of serious proposals toaddress them is inexcusable . It is alsocalculated . Lacking leadership in theform of specific proposals from the Presi-dent, Members of Congress are worriedabout putting forth their own ideas in anydetail . Without proposals they can priceout to save Social Security and Medicare ,Republicans have been unable to argueeffectively that there would be money lef tover for income tax cuts .

Americans have become accustomedto a strong economy. The last recession i snow eight years past . As long as th eeconomy continues strong, many change smay be needed before a rising tax burdentriggers a tax revolt. If the economystarts to choke, however, taxpayers mayquickly shift their attention to th egovernment's share of their income .When that happens they may again dis-cover their tax revolt roots . 40

JD. Poster, Ph.D.Executive Director &

Chief Economis tTax Foundation

The Tax FoundationA Long and Distinguished History

Founded in 1937, the Tax Foundation is an independent group of economi cresearchers who publish information about public finance in an objective ,unbiased fashion for the benefit of government, industry and the citizenry .

The Tax Foundation's research record has made it an oft-quoted source inWashington and state capitals, not as the voice of left or right, not as the voic eof an industry or even of business in general, but as an advocate of a principle dapproach to tax policy, based on years of professional research .

The Tax Foundation's Principles of Taxation♦ Well Informed Citizenry . People must know who and what is bein g

taxed and how legislation is enacted .♦ Simplicity . An overly complex tax system makes accurate tax compliance

needlessly expensive and punitive .♦ Stability. Frequent change lessens citizen understanding of the tax cod e

and complicates long-range planning .♦ No Retroactive Changes . Taxpayers must have confidence in the law a s

it exists when they make business decisions .♦ Neutrality . The purpose of taxes is to raise revenue, not to micromanage

the economy with subsidies and penalties . The tax system should favorneither consumption nor saving and investment .

♦ Economic Growth. The U.S . tax system should not impede the free flowof goods, services, and capital, domestically or internationally.

Serious BusinessTax policy—whether at the federal, state or local level—isn't fun an d

games . It's serious business . Farsighted individuals, businesses, and charitable

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The sponsors of the Tax Foundation realize that their tax-deductibl econtributions are an investment in an informed public, and ultimately in a bet-ter economy for themselves, for their companies, and for the next generation ofAmericans . We invite you to join their ranks .

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Recent PublicationsBooks• Facts andFigures on Government Finance ,

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• Tax Freedom Day 1999 to Arrive May 1 1• Every State Has Its Own Price of Civilized

SocietyState Tax Collections and Rates

• Top Five Percent of Taxpayers Pay Over Half o fFederal Individual Income Taxe s

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