Ken Meade: The rest of the story on income taxes paid by the wealthy

To The Daily Sun,

One of our frequent commentators, Mr. Bruce Jenket, believes people don’t answer his questions because they "ignore any fact that contradicts their deeply held misperceptions."

The misperception in this case is that the wealthy are paying less in taxes under the Donald Trump tax cuts.

Looking specifically at those making over %500,000 a year, I’m in agreement with him that there was a total tax revenue increase of 56.5% in that time-frame for that bracket. Yet in Adjusted Gross Income for that same group, there was an increase of 64.6%.

All things being equal, wouldn’t readers have expected a tax revenue increase matching that 64.6% increase or more if they were really paying more in taxes?

Just to close the loop on this one, the number of returns being filed in that tax bracket also increased by about the same percentage amount.

So, yes, that group is paying more in taxes because of the reasons noted above, but those wealthy individuals are paying less in taxes on more income.

He also said that those making under a $100,000 paid less in 2022. Yes, he was right, but again, he didn’t give readers the whole picture. Number of people reporting taxes in that bracket decreased by 4.8% in that same time-frame.

One other piece of information he left out, those in the under $100,000 group had an AGI growth of 4.3% (and the bulk of that growth came in one year), while those over %500,000 saw an increase of 64.6%.

Now, readers have the rest of the story. Whether they agree or disagree with whether they should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes, people at the top are paying less per individual.

So, yes, tax cuts for the wealthy and social safety net cuts for the rest of us.

Ken Meade

Laconia