US Billionaires Pay Less Taxes

The headline of billionaires paying less taxes probably isn’t a surprise. There have been so many storied tax cuts for folks in the US that it seems inevitable. What wasn’t inevitable was the extent.

From The Guardian;

“Economists calculate richest 400 families in US paid an average tax rate of 23% while the bottom half of households paid a rate of 24.2%“

In 1960, the richest paid 56% in taxes. The richest are now paying less than half of what they did during the golden years of the Baby Boom. Since then, wealth inequality has risen dramatically. Add in growing tax havens, a tendency for corporations and the wealthy to hold assets rather than invest, and it is relatively easy to see why federal debt has grown while wages stagnate for those who rely in income rather than asset appreciation. Returning to the standards of sixty years ago might seem revolutionary, but those were possibly more sustainable times for Americans and the American economy.

“Trump’s tax cuts helped billionaires pay less than the working class for first time” – The Guardian