Economist's View: We Taxpayers Are the 99%
Paul Krugman sends us to Mark Thoma and the Hamilton Project on just who the 47% are:
Mark Thoma: Nontaxpayers are Overwhelmingly the Elderly and Students: When Romney talks about the people who don't pay taxes and tries to make you believe that 47 percent of us are moochers living off the system, it's important to recognize… how narrow the category is -- it's only federal income taxes -- but there are lots of other types of taxes. When all things are considered, "nearly 100 percent of Americans pay taxes in some way, shape or form":
Who Pays Taxes?, Hamilton Project: A popular myth swirling around Washington, DC, and throughout the media these days is that many Americans do not pay taxes, and are therefore free-riding off of our society without contributing themselves…. The origin of this misconception is the observation that only about 54 percent of American households paid federal income taxes during recession-affected 2011. But that statistic is misleading…. [N]early all Americans do, in fact, pay taxes….
[M]any households with no tax liability are young or old, meaning that they are likely to be led by students who subsequently will pay taxes or retirees who paid taxes…. [D]uring middle age, almost all workers face a tax burden… 84 percent faced a net payroll and income tax bill in 2007… [even] low-income households… face a positive tax bill over time. Furthermore, rising unemployment during the Great Recession has meant that the proportion of American families paying no federal taxes is unusually large today. Unemployed workers without incomes naturally don’t face tax liabilities…. When looking more specifically at middle-aged workers with jobs, 96 percent paid federal income or payroll taxes.
Finally, incorporating the additional—and significant—other forms of taxation into our calculation leads to the conclusion that nearly 100 percent of Americans pay taxes in some way, shape or form… state and local property, sales, and income taxes, as well as excise taxes on items like gasoline, alcohol, or cigarettes…
