Visual Economics: Historic/Current US Tax Bracket Heat Map

[phk]

The colors indicate the marginal tax rate: black for low, red in the middle, and yellow for high.  The horizontal axis is the tax year, and the vertical represents taxable income, log-scale, normalized to 2010 dollars with the Bureau Of Labor Statistics’ monthly CPI-U figures.  The bracket data comes from The Tax Foundation and the IRS, and the effects of Social Security, capital gains, AMT, and other tax varieties are not included.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

1987 (or so) was a Republican wet dream; tax cuts for the rich while the poor and middle class had tax hikes.

[Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.]

You got this from the blog I assume?

I have been looking for an inflation chart that shows how out of control inflation was during particular periods of the 19th century. Its unfortunate that I can no longer find the chart.

[memphis]

Without indexing to inflation, the graph is not very helpful. Also, income taxes are a very incomplete representation of the tax burden in the US. All but the richest pay more in other taxes.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

it says its adjusted to inflation 2010 dollars.
interesting, though the color scheme seems backwards.

[Derek]

It is absolutely disgusting to look at the percentage of taxes that are paid by the top income earners while 47% pay no taxes at all. Pay your fair share.

[Bo]

It would be nice having some more tax brackets at the higher income spectrum. That way, the govt. can collect much more revenue than it currently does.

[Marokai Backbeat]

It is absolutely disgusting to look at the percentage of taxes that are paid by the top income earners while 47% pay no taxes at all. Pay your fair share.

Oh this is so dull. Do your homework.

As for your nonsense about how this is "welfare masquerading as a tax cut" because it's giving money to people who don't pay taxes, you're simply dead wrong for three reasons. First, because we're talking about federal income taxes. Two specific qualifiers there: Federal, and income. Meaning the tax coming from the federal government specifically, specifically targeted to their income. That's it. Not all taxes. Only the INCOME tax from the FEDERAL government.

Secondly, there's a reason 47% of the general population pays no federal income taxes and that reason is because the federal income tax code is riddled with deductions for certain reasons, but the biggest of those is the Earned Income Tax Credit, a very large reimbursement that is an effective anti-poverty tool that gives money back to the disproportionate benefit to those with low incomes that can't sustain the taxes. According to the Tax Policy Center, this is what the tax-paying rate would be without those credits:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/blog/_archives/2010/2/25/4466208.html

Thirdly, there's a big example of why focusing only on federal income taxes is silly, and that reason is that about three-quarters of all American households pay more in payroll taxes, than they do when paying income taxes. This doesn't even factor in state and local taxes!

The argument that 47% of Americans pay no taxes is a lie.

[WillK]

It is absolutely disgusting to look at the percentage of taxes that are paid by the top income earners while 47% pay no taxes at all. Pay your fair share.

Define this concept of fair share? 
I could argue that it would be fairer if the top income earners paid even higher percentage.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

It is absolutely disgusting to look at the percentage of taxes that are paid by the top income earners while 47% pay no taxes at all. Pay your fair share.

I cry myself to sleep knowing that Bill Gates pays a whooping 15% taxes on his capital gains while middle class people only have to pay 35% or so in taxes.