RSSComparison of Share of Income to Share of Income Taxes Paid in 2007
This chart illustrates the progressive structure of the federal income tax system as seen in the average tax rates (center column) computed from tax returns filed in 2007. For example, the top left block indicates that the top 1% of tax returns reported $2.0 trillion in adjusted gross income, which was 22.8% of the total adjusted gross income of $8.8 trillion for the year. The top right block indicates that $451 billion in income taxes was collected from that group, which amounted to 40.4% of the total $1.1 trillion of income taxes for the year.
The progressivity of the income tax system is further demonstrated by the fact that the top 1% paid more income taxes ($451 billion) than the bottom 95% ($438 billion).