Friday, July 01, 2005

The Rich Get Richer -- And Don't Pay Taxes

The number of rich or well-to-do Americans who skipped out on paying income tax jumped 15% in 2002 -- the latest year for which numbers are available. About one in every 436 high-income Americans paid no taxes in 2002. The IRS tells Congress the number is growing. These are the top 2% of the income pyramid -- people making $200,000 a year or more.

Folks in that income range paid about 27-cents in taxes for every buck they earned.

But 83,000 -- about 1-in-33 -- paid only a dime for every dollar in income. Another 79,000 paid less than 15-cents.

The average for all Americans is 13-cents on the dollar.

At least 5,650 people who made more than $200,000 in 2002 paid no income taxes. (NYT)

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