# Tax burden on average Americans
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [October 18, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452 "2022-10-18T17:46:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/1 "2022-10-18T17:46:56Z")
So lately Jonathan Stewart quoted a source as saying that average Americans pay 8% of their incomes annually in taxes – presumably Federal taxes, but much less than in a more Socialist state like Sweden. And years ago Mitt Romney went on about how 47% of Americans are “freeloaders,” evidently by comparison to the 15% he himself paid in income tax. But a few years back, before I retired, I was paying 6% of my paycheck in FICA taxes, and another 6% in Massachusetts state taxes. (Granted, the latter has deductions, but also taxes for interests and dividends.) So I paid 12% before I even started on my income taxes, and that doesn’t touch sales taxes, etc.
Does anybody know what a realistic number is for the famous “average American?”
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/2 "2022-10-19T10:39:33Z")
It’s a bit complicated because some tax returns are for individuals, whereas others are for couples.
This website has lots of tax data chopped up different ways:
> **[Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data](https://taxfoundation.org/publications/latest-federal-income-tax-data/)**
>
> New IRS federal income tax data demonstrates that the U.S. individual income tax continues to be very progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
The mean rate for taxpayers was 13%, but that’s federal income tax only and excludes people who don’t pay that specific tax. Not all income is subject to FICA, etc. And the median rate will be lower based on how income is distributed. So it’s complicated and can be asked and calculated in different ways that are easily manipulated if one has a political axe to grind.
If you’d like people to stick to the facts, you may have better luck asking a mod to move this to FQ.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/3 "2022-10-19T10:47:18Z")
“Tax Units with Zero or Negative Income Tax”
The pandemic made things weird but these folks are estimating low 40s:
> **[T21-0161 - Tax Units with Zero or Negative Income Tax, 2011-2031](https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/model-estimates/tax-units-zero-or-negative-income-tax-liability-august-2021/t21-0161-tax-units-zero)**
>
> This table provides a break down between 2011-2031 of the number of tax units that had zero or negative individual income tax liability, zero or...
That excludes dependents.
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/4 "2022-10-19T11:04:15Z")
To the OP, I would be leery of putting much stock in media pundit quotes using terms like “average American”. One would have to see the underlying numbers, and have an understanding of the subtleties of “average” vs. “mean”, etc. It makes for good bumper-sticker copy, but is essentially meaningless in policy discussions, and should not be a source of emotional responses.
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### Author:  [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/5 "2022-10-19T11:22:59Z")
One reasonably straightforward presentation of international tax rates for comparison.
> **[Tax Comparisons Around The World | MoveHub](https://www.movehub.com/advice/tax-comparisons-around-the-world/)**
>
> See how much tax you will have to pay in the top countries around the world with our country tax comparison. Be prepared for your move abroad.
I’d definitely agree that you should be immediately suspicious of any comparison that boils down to one typical American figure. As the commentary notes, US state rates will depend on which state you’re in and sit on top of the quoted figures.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/6 "2022-10-19T13:23:06Z")
I know that I’ve read that the average total tax burden is relatively flat across the income spectrum, but I can’t find a cite. Most cites just look at income taxes, which is immediately wrong because that ignores wage taxes (social security and Medicare).
Other taxes are sales taxes (for those states that have them), real estate taxes (either direct for homeowners or implicit through rent), sin taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and the like, use taxes (tolls, registrations). Real estate, sales, sin, and usage taxes all fall much more heavily on the poor, as a percentage of income.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/7 "2022-10-19T16:56:40Z")
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> “Tax Units with Zero or Negative Income Tax”
> The pandemic made things weird but these folks are estimating low 40s:
That’s income tax only.
Almost everybody in the USA pays sales tax. Almost everybody pays school taxes and town and/or county and/or village and/or city taxes, either directly or as part of their rent. Anybody who’s employed pays social security and medicare, which technically aren’t called taxes but are for all intents and purposes. Looking only at the income tax is often a way to present people as freeriders who are actually paying a large percentage of their income to cover government expenses.
(Or, I see, what @RitterSport said.)
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/8 "2022-10-19T18:30:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> That’s income tax only.
Indeed, that’s even what the title states.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/9 "2022-10-19T18:37:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> I know that I’ve read that the average total tax burden is relatively flat across the income spectrum, but I can’t find a cite.
Likely some variation of this:
[ ](https://kottke.org/plus/misc/images/tax-2019-regressive.jpg)
> **[America’s Unjust Regressive Tax System and How to Fix It](https://kottke.org/19/10/americas-unjust-regressive-tax-system-and-how-to-fix-it)**
>
> On Monday, I posted a link to David Leonhardt’s NY Times piece, The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You.
>
> For the first
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/10 "2022-10-19T18:47:07Z")
That’s a great chart!
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/11 "2022-10-19T19:04:48Z")
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> > [@thorny\_locust](#):
> >
> > That’s income tax only.
>
> Indeed, that’s even what the title states.
It’s not what the title of the thread states, or what the OP reads as meaning.
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> Likely some variation of this
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/12 "2022-10-19T19:26:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> It’s not what the title of the thread states, or what the OP reads as meaning.
You quoted a link titled “Income Tax” to tell us it’s about income tax. Nobody is confused by this. It explains where the number in the OP comes from.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/13 "2022-10-19T19:30:40Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> That’s a great chart!
The link is not though, because it appears to cite the wrong nytimes article. That chart is from a different one:
> **[Opinion | How to Tax Our Way Back to Justice (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/opinion/sunday/wealth-income-tax-rate.html)**
>
> It is absurd that the working class is now paying higher tax rates than the richest people in America.
There’s a lot of guesswork behind it. Three sig figs suggests more certainty than I’d present. But it gets the point across.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/14 "2022-10-19T19:40:40Z")
Assuming that the average American is single, no dependents and making $54,132 (median wage according to BLS) and has done nothing to significantly reduce their tax burden. Using the 2023 FIT brackets and standard deduction the payroll taxes are
FIT $4613.84
SIT (Colorado) $1832.83 YMMV
SSI $3365.18
Medicare $784.91
Total Taxes: $10,587. 77
Effective Tax Rate: 19.56%
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/15 "2022-10-19T19:46:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> Total Taxes: $10,587. 77
> Effective Tax Rate: 19.56%
Plus sales tax and property taxes.
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> You quoted a link titled “Income Tax” to tell us it’s about income tax. Nobody is confused by this.
That’s not the point I was trying to make; but I’m not going to keep arguing about it.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/16 "2022-10-19T21:27:20Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> Plus sales tax and property taxes.
Plus sin taxes and usage taxes.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/17 "2022-10-19T21:31:36Z")
Aren’t most sin taxes in the form of sales taxes?
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### Author:  [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/18 "2022-10-19T21:36:40Z")
No, they are in addition. So like, the playing card company pays a nickle for each stamp for each deck of cards, but you also pay sales tax when you buy them.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/19 "2022-10-19T21:41:58Z")
Ah. I thought the term referred to placing a high sales tax on items such as cigarettes and alcohol. Thanks for info.
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### Author:  [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-burden-on-average-americans/973452/20 "2022-10-19T21:42:59Z")
I thonk it can, but that tax is assessed earlier, and then, afaik, also pay regular sales tax.
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