ProPublica Analysis of Taxes on Wealthy

Chris EdwardsProPublica is running a  series ofarticles based on federal tax returns for 25 wealthy individuals which were illegally obtained. The articles present selective information and dubious metrics to push a  narrative that rich people pay little tax. Data from four authoritative sources show that tax payments by these 25 individuals are not representative of high earners generally.Let ’s focus on ProPublica’s click‐​friendlyheadline: “You May Be Paying a Higher Tax Rate Than a Billionaire.” The article says that a “typical” worker with $45,000 in wages pays a higher federal tax rate than the average of the 25 wealthy people on the stolen tax returns. Including income and payroll taxes, ProPublica says that the typica l taxpayer pays 19 percent while the 25 wealthy people pay just 16 percent.The claim that people in the middle pay a  higher tax rate than people at the top is at odds with data from four authoritative sources: the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Tax Policy Center (TPC), the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).The table shows that the ProPublica tax rates are far different than the average effective tax rates for middle and top households published by the CBO, TPC, JCT, and IRS. The rates from these four sources are similar and consistent, while the ProPublica rates are outliers. The total rates in the table are the sum of income and payroll tax rates.ProPublica ’s top group is measure...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs