Fair Taxes? Depends What You Mean by ‘Fair', by Greg Mankiw, Economic View, NY
Times:
The C.B.O.’s most recent calculations of federal tax rates show a highly
progressive system. ... The poorest fifth of the population, with average annual
income of $15,400, pays only 4.5 percent of its income in federal taxes. The
middle fifth, with income of $56,200, pays 13.9 percent. And the top fifth, with
income of $207,200, pays 25.1 percent.
The best source for objective data on the distribution of the tax burden is
the Congressional Budget Office. The C.B.O. goes beyond anecdotes and bald
assertions to provide hard data on who pays taxes. ...
At the very top of the income distribution, the C.B.O. reports even higher
tax rates. The richest 1 percent has average income of $1,259,700 and forks over
31.1 percent of its income to the federal government.
The fancy economics term for this is distributional equity.
Here's an editorial I
wrote awhile back on the same topic:
