97% of Americans Pay less than 12% Tax Rate; Romney Pays 14.1%

97% of Americans Pay Less Tax Than Romney’s 14.1% Based on available IRS data and after accounting for deductions, 97% of 2009 filers paid an income tax rate lower than 12%. That means that Romney with his 14.1% effective tax rate is paying a higher rate than 97% of Americans. NewsBusters explained: To calculate the 12% tax: Column (19) of the table below shows the percentage tax individuals paid according to their income (AGI): ● People making between $100K and $200K paid tax at an average of 11.9% of their AGI. ● Those making less paid tax at a lower rate. To calculate the 97% of taxpayers: Columns (1) and (2) show the number and percentage of tax returns filed at each income level: ● There were 140 million filers in 2009. (Column 1) ● To get the 97% of taxpayers: Add up all the percentages in the column (2) of those earning $200,000 or less. (columns)–> (19) (1) (2) Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), Tax Year 2009 Total income tax All returns Size of Adjusted Gross Income % tax paid of their AGI Number of returns Percent of total All returns 12.8 140,494,127 100 No adjusted gross income [1] 2,511,925 1.8 97% of Americans paid less than 11.9% in taxes $1 under $5,000 4.8 10,447,635 7.4 $5,000 under $10,000 2.6 12,220,335 8.7 $10,000 under $15,000 2.3 12,444,512 8.9 $15,000 under $20,000 3.0 11,400,228 8.1 $20,000 under $25,000 4.5 10,033,887 7.1 $25,000 under $30,000 5.4 8,662,392 6.2 $30,000 under $40,000 6.0 14,371,647 10.2 $40,000 under $50,000 6.8 10,796,412 7.7 $50,000 under $75,000 7.7 18,694,893 13.3 $75,000 under $100,000 8.5 11,463,725 8.2 $100,000 under $200,000 11.9 13,522,048 9.6 $200,000 under $500,000 19.6 3,195,039 2.3 $500,000 under $1,000,000 24.4 492,568 0.4 $1,000,000 under $1,500,000 25.3 108,096 0.1 $1,500,000 under $2,000,000 25.6 44,273 [2] $2,000,000 under $5,000,000 25.8 61,918 [2] $5,000,000 under $10,000,000 25.4 14,322 [2] $10,000,000 or more 22.6 8,274 [2]

Even at 14%, Romney Pays a Higher Rate than 97% of Americans The Tax Foundation explains: As the chart below shows, based on the most recent IRS data for 2009, the average tax rate (after deductions) paid by all Americans is 11 percent. It is also clear that millionaires pay an average of 25 percent, while virtually every taxpayer earning under $100,000 pays an average rate of no more than 8 percent of their income in taxes. There are roughly 123 million taxpayers who earn under $100,000, or about 88 percent of the 140 million Americans who filed a tax return in 2009. In other words, 88 percent of all taxpayers pay 8 percent or less of their income in income taxes. Which gets us back to Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate of 14 percent, after deductions. As the chart shows, this rate is still higher than the average rate paid by taxpayers earning up to $200,000. There are about 136 million taxpayers who have adjusted gross incomes less than $200,000, or 97 percent of all taxpayers. So even with an average tax rate of 14 percent, Romney paid a higher average rate than 97 percent of his fellow Americans.

[Note: Most of Romney's income comes from investments which are taxed at lower rates, because they are taxed several times, ie., when he earned those dollars, then when he invested them. We will deal with that later.] PREVIOUSLY - Romney Pays 14.1%; Americans Pay 11% Effective Tax Rate - Romney’s 14.1% Tax Rate is Higher than Most Americans when Comparing Apples to Apples

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