Would you believe? 70% vs 35% tax rate...

For fun, let’s compare the effective rates and a few other values under Carter (1979) and G.W. Bush (2006). Recall that under Carter (1979) the marginal rate went all the way up to 70% paid on income over $215,400 (married filing jointly); under Bush (2006), the highest marginal rate was *only* 35% paid on income over $336,550 (married filing jointly). The CBO puts out a nice paper every year. It starts with data from 1979 and runs up to 2006 (the last year for which I have data, 2005 for the top 0.01%), making this comparison easy.

Would you believe that in 1979, when the highest marginal tax rate was 70%, the effective income tax rate paid by the top 1% was just 21.8% (compare to the marginal rate of 70%). In 2006, after massive tax rate cuts that were accompanied by elimination of a host of deductions, the effective income tax rate for the top 1% had dropped only a few points down to 19% (compared to marginal rate of 35%).

Would you believe that in 1979, when the highest marginal tax rate was 70%, the top 1% paid 15.4% of all federal taxes collected but that in 2006, when the highest marginal rate was a mere 35%, the top 1% paid 27.6% of all federal taxes collected?

Would you believe that the bottom 80% are *all* (statistically, not necessarily as individuals!) paying a smaller share of the both the total federal tax burden and income tax burden in 2006 than they were in 1979? Only the top 20% are paying more?

Would you believe that the bottom 40% went from paying about 4% of income taxes collected in 1979 to paying -3.6% in 2006 (negative share of taxes due to excess refundable tax credits, primarily EITC and child-related credits)?

Believe it!

Share of Total Federal Tax Liabilities
* the lowest quintile (20%) paid 2.1% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 0.8% in 2006
* the second quintile paid 7.2% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 4.1% in 2006
* the middle quintile paid 13.2% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 9.1% in 2006
* the fourth quintile paid 21.0% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 16.5% in 2006
* the highest quintile paid 56.4% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 69.3% in 2006
* top 1 percent paid 15.4% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 27.6% in 2006
* top 0.01% percentile paid 2.7% of all taxes collected in 1979 and 6.5% in 2005

Share of Federal Income Tax Liabilities
* the lowest quintile paid 0.0% of income taxes collected in 1979 and -2.8% in 2006
* the second quintile paid 4.1% of income taxes collected in 1979 and -0.8% in 2006
* the middle quintile paid 10.7% of income taxes collected in 1979 and 4.4% in 2006
* the fourth quintile paid 20.2% of income taxes collected in 1979 and 12.9% in 2006
* the highest quintile paid 64.9% of income taxes collected in 1979 and 86.3% in 2006
* top 1 percent paid 18.3% of income taxes collected in 1979 and 39.1% in 2006
* top 0.01% percentile paid 2.6% of income taxes collected in 1979 and 8.0% in 2005

Share of Pre-Tax Income
* the lowest quintile earned 5.8% in 1979 and 3.9% in 2006
* the second quintile earned 11.1% in 1979 and 8.4% in 2006
* the middle quintile earned 15.8% in 1979 and 13.2% in 2006
* the fourth quintile earned 22.0% in 1979 and 19.5% in 2006
* the highest quintile earned 45.5% in 1979 and 55.7% in 2006
* top 1 percentile earned 9.3% in 1979 and 18.8% in 2006
* top 0.01 percentile earned 1.4% in 1979 and 4.2% in 2005

Total Effective Federal Tax Rate (income+payroll+excise+corporate)
* the lowest quintile rate was 8.0% in 1979 and 4.3% in 2006
* the second quintile rate was 14.3% in 1979 and 10.2% in 2006
* the middle quintile rate was 18.6% in 1979 and 14.2% in 2006
* the fourth quintile rate was 21.2% in 1979 and 17.6% in 2006
* the highest quintile rate was 27.5% in 1979 and 25.8% in 2006
* top 1% percentile rate was 37.0% in 1979 and 31.2% in 2006
* top 0.01% percentile rate was 42.9% in 1979 and 31.5% in 2005

Effective Income Tax Rate
* the lowest quintile rate was 0.0% in 1979 and -6.6% (negative 6.6 percent) in 2006
* the second quintile rate was 4.1% in 1979 and -1.0% (negative 1.0 percent) in 2006
* the middle quintile rate was 7.5% in 1979 and 3.0% in 2006
* the fourth quintile rate was 10.1% in 1979 and 6.0% in 2006
* the highest quintile rate was 15.7% in 1979 and 14.1% in 2006
* top 1% rate was 21.8% in 1979 and 19.0% in 2006
* top 0.01% percentile rate was 21.0% in 1979 and 17.0% in 2005