A Look at Combined Rates for Federal Taxes

On Capitol Hill, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has released data showing what Americans pay in their combined federal taxes based on their income level. As reported by the Tax Foundation — using data from 2018, the most recent year available — the JCT says the bottom 50% of income earners faced an average rate of 6.3% compared to 32.9% for the top 0.01% of earners.

The Tax Foundation notes that the income tax is the most progressive aspect of the federal tax system, providing an effective rate of -2% for the bottom half of earners when factoring refundable tax credits. 5/17/2021