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I was sent this email from a Republican friend of mine. He is very reasonable and a good debater. I don't know how to answer this one:
"Oh My Gosh! Guess Who Pays NO Taxes?
Fully 32.4 percent of Americans paid no taxes at all for tax year 2004, up from 25.2 percent in 2000, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. Before you start screaming about the rich shirking their fair share of the federal tax burden, know this: The people who don't pay taxes are primarily low-income, young, female-headed households who work part-time and are beneficiaries of the $1,000 per-child tax credit or the Earned Income Credit.
Tax Foundation economists say that the 32.4 percent who pay no taxes after they took advantage of perfectly legal tax credits and deductions translates into a record 42.5 million Americans. But it doesn't end there. Approximately 15 million individuals and families earned some income in 2004, but it was so little they didn't have to file a tax return. That brings the total to 57.5 million who pay nothing. And we're not done yet. One tax return often represents several people so when the dependents are included in this no-tax sum, it amounts to roughly 120 million Americans or 40 percent of the U.S. population. And that doesn't count the millions who paid just a very small amount in taxes.
The tax-friendliest states in the U.S.A. are...
Here's the rub, according to the Tax Foundation: We have become a nation divided. There is an ever-growing class of people who pay no taxes and a shrinking class of people who do.
What are America's fastest-rising taxes? It's a good news-bad news scenario.
Who are the non-payers? Fully 91 percent of them earned less than $30,000 annually and 96 percent earned less than $40,000. They are young with more than a third under 25 and 54 percent younger than 35. More than half are single women or families where the primary wage earner is a woman. Fully 79 percent are white, 16 percent are African American and 3.2 percent are Asian Americans. (Hispanic Americans are not included in the racial category since Hispanic individuals can be of any race. When they are included as such, 15 percent of those who paid no taxes are Hispanic.)
What does this mean? The Tax Foundation says the findings raise serious questions about the future of the U.S. income tax system.
END OF ARTICLE.
Now I am not saying people in the income brackets don’t need help. I know raising a family with that type of income is VERY hard. What I am saying is that if they are not paying taxes then who is? So you can’t say the rich do not pay taxes. I think this shows the rich are paying the taxes."
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