Two things:
1) I'd be willing to bet you're in a higher percentile than you think
2) I'm being a little cute with numbers by aggregating. Here's the effective income tax rates by percentile for 2013:
Bottom 20%: -7.2%
Next 20%: -1.2%
Middle 20%: 2.6%
Bottom 60%: -0.5%
So while the bottom 60% is indeed negative in aggregate, the middle 20% has a tax burden, with people closer to the 60th percentile paying more than the 2.6% average for that quartile.
Similarly the bottom 80% breaks down as follows:
Bottom 60%: -0.5%
60-80%: 6.1%
Bottom 80%: 2.1%
So again if you're in the 4th quintile, you're paying on average 6.1% even though in aggregate the bottom 80% pays only 2.1%. And if you're at the top of the 60-80%, you're probably pushing close to a 10% effective rate.
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In response to this post by Freddyburg Hokie)
Posted: 02/09/2018 at 12:03PM