Tax Day Tomorrow: Nearly Half of Americans Pay No Taxes

Tomorrow is April 15th.  It’s the day of reckoning for millions of Americans who have a tax bill to pay Unc Sam.  Are you one of the lucky few many?

More and more people in the US are able to avoid paying Federal Income taxes.  This according to the Tax Policy Center and reported by Yahoo:

About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability.

Now, let’s be very clear.  The Federal Income tax goes to fund many many programs at the national level.  These include national defense, public safety, infrastructure and even education.

How upside down is this system?

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

Read that again:

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

These aren’t people who are getting a refund; that is getting some of what they paid back.  These are people who are paying NO Federal Income tax AND getting money from the Feds.

Wanna see how easy it is to make a profit on the Federal Government all the while making $50,000 a year?

The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on $24,000 is $2,769.

With two children younger than 17, the family qualified for two $1,000 child tax credits. Its Making Work Pay credit was $800 because the parents were married filing jointly.

The $2,800 in credits exceeds the $2,769 in taxes, so the family makes a $31 profit from the federal income tax. That ought to take the sting out of April 15.

Good work if ya can get it!

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