On that tax burden

We see a constant flow of letters from our liberal Democrat friends clambering for “the rich” to pay more of “their share” and for corporations to be taxed heavier despite the fact we have one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the free world. Now, with the national health-care debate raging, we are hearing all kinds of horror stories about who may be uninsured in the coming years.

From the Pew Research Center we learn that in 2014, households with incomes of $250,000 (upper middle class to uber-rich) or more accounted for 2.7 percent of the tax returns filed. They paid about 51.6 percent of the $1.4 trillion in federal income tax collected that year. Their average tax rate was 25.7 percent.

Households with incomes below $50,000 accounted for 62.3 percent of the returns. They paid about 5.7 percent of the total amount of federal income tax collected. Their average tax rate was 4.3 percent.

Those between $50,000 and $250,000 accounted for the remaining 35 percent of the returns and 42.7 percent of collected taxes at an average rate of 15 percent. Therefore, we readily see that “the rich” already pay over half the income taxes collected at the highest rate, while the “working poor” pay only 3 percent and the middle class paying about what one would expect.

Now, corporations. They do not and have never paid any taxes. Sure, they file their federal and state forms, and write checks for billions of dollars to the Treasury, but just who do you think actually pays all that money? You and I, in all the goods and services we buy.

Who does not pay? All of your friends and neighbors that work cash jobs—tens of millions of them—and almost a third of our population that are on some type of government assistance supported with our tax dollars. So, neighbor, just how do you propose we pay for all of this free and “affordable” health care?

JOE T. TUCKER

Cabot