Myth of 47% pay no taxes
That applied to ONE year, 2009, due to special circumstances, but boy oh boy, everyone just loves using that as representative of ALL years.
Quote:
The 51 percent figure is an anomaly that reflects the unique circumstances of 2009, when the recession greatly swelled the number of Americans with low incomes and when temporary tax cuts created by the 2009 Recovery Act — including the "Making Work Pay" tax credit and an exclusion from tax of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits — were in effect. Together, these developments removed millions of Americans from the federal income tax rolls. Both of these temporary tax measures have since expired.
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
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The normal percentage who don't pay any taxes is 14%, and those 14% are mostly seniors with no income or job at ALL, students who file but don't work full time, and the disabled who can't work.
But man, it sure sounds good to use that little snippet to "prove" a point, doesn't it? Too bad it's so terribly distorted.