Top 3% of U.S. Taxpayers Paid Majority Of Income Taxes In 2016: Interactive Graphics

Ted

FYI: .Richest 1,409 taxpayers pay more income tax than bottom 70Mln

.Individual income tax to bring in about $1.7 trillion in FY18

Individual income taxes are the federal government’s single biggest revenue source. In fiscal year 2018, which ended Sept. 30, the individual income tax is expected to bring in roughly $1.7 trillion, or about half of all federal revenues, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

If past statistics can offer any guidance, in 2016, $1.44 trillion income taxes were paid by 140.9 million taxpayers reporting a total of $10.2 trillion in adjusted gross income, according to data recently released by the Internal Revenue Services.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-14/top-3-of-u-s-taxpayers-paid-majority-of-income-taxes-in-2016?srnd=premium

bee

Interesting statistic. What surprised me, prior to the income tax (1913) the federal governments largest revenue streams were from tariffs. 30% of total federal revenue came from tariffs. As recently as 2012 tariffs accounted for just 1.7% of federal revenue.

Not to move to far from the OP...here's an article on "When Tariffs Worked":

The tariffs (2018) the United States is imposing on imports of aluminum and steel recall a sturdy American tradition. The tariff was the main form of federal taxation over the first half of the history of this country, until the income tax emerged in 1913. There is an indisputable chronological correlation between the tariff and phenomenal economic growth. From the late 18th to the early 20th twentieth centuries, the United States steadily developed into the most successful economy in the world.

when-tariffs-worked

Kaspa

Interesting info-graphic. To get additional insight, it will be good to see

1. Progressive curve with total income instead of adjusted gross income
2. Total income of each percentile vs. total tax paid by that percentile, as a fraction in the table of average tax percentages