NEWS:

In an article reported in the April 9, 2002 Reno Gazette Journal…

Another way the rich are different: They pay the lion's share of the nation's income tax bill. The wealthiest 5 percent pay more than half the taxes, while people in the bottom half pay just 4 percent.

For 1999, the most recent year for which complete Internal Revenue Service statistics are available, 6.3 million taxpayers whose incomes were in the top 5 percent paid more than 55 percent of all income taxes. They had incomes above $120, 846 a year - meaning two spouses could each earn a bit over $60,000 and be considered among the nation's richest.

The wealthiest 1 percent - those earning $293,415 and up - paid over a third of the taxes, while their share of the nation's taxable income was 19 percent. They pay income taxes at the top rate, now 38.6 percent, compared with a maximum rate of 15 percent for the majority of lower-earning taxpayers.

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