by Donald Lambro

Washington Times

03/07/05

Tax time fast approaches and, with it, the need for an honest re-evaluation of who is in the middle class and who pays most of the income taxes. Perhaps no other public policy area is more clouded by 'myth conceptions' than our federal tax system. That's why last week's latest 'Tax Watch' study from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation is a timely breath of fresh air, and should be required reading on Capitol Hill and in every news bureau. For example, did you know, this year, a record 44 million Americans will file tax returns but not have to pay any income taxes (because of growing deductions and credits that have effectively removed them from the tax base)? Did you know, as a result, the richest 20 percent of taxpayers -- those making more than $68,000 a year -- will pay 82 percent of all federal income tax revenue, also a record?

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Informant: Thomas L. Knapp