Do the richest 1% of Americans pay 90% of federal income tax?

Facebook posts: “The richest 1% pay 90% of income taxes.

PolitiFact Note: False

Here’s why: United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., used her invitation to the Met Gala – “the hottest event on New York’s glitter calendar,” as Bloomberg Wealth put it – to make a political statement, and it created a buzz that its critics couldn’t resist.

“TAX THE RICH” was inscribed in red letters on the back of the off-the-shoulder white dress she wore to the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art performance, where tickets cost $ 30,000 to $ 35,000.

Powerful or hypocrite? AOC’s ‘Tax the Rich’ dress at Met Gala elicits mixed reactions

An image criticizing Ocasio-Cortez on Facebook included a photo of her at the event, with her back to the camera, showing the political message. The image claimed she “wore a $ 10,000 designer dress that said it taxed the rich, who already pay 97% of taxes in the United States.”

Conservative influencer Christian Walker (son of US Senate candidate and former football player Herschel Walker) made a similar point when denouncing the Met Gala’s “disgusting display of hypocrisy” on his social media. On his Facebook page, his caption read: “By the way: the richest 1% pay 90% of income taxes.”

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The posts were reported as part of Facebook’s efforts to tackle fake news and disinformation on its news feed.

We couldn’t find out the cost of the dress, which Ocasio-Cortez said he borrowed from a Brooklyn store. The store’s founder told CNN she didn’t calculate a cost. But the claim we’re checking is for the other part of the article: Are the richest 1% really paying the lion’s share of federal income taxes?

No.

In 2018, 97% of federal income taxes were collected from about half of taxpayers, according to Senate Budget Committee testimony from March 2021 by the Tax Foundation.

He cited the latest figures from the Internal Revenue Service, noting that they explain the 2017 tax cuts adopted under President Donald Trump.

This top half included people who had adjusted gross income of more than $ 43,614.

Was AOC’s Met Gala a powerful political statement or a pointless photoshoot? We are talking.

The top 1% – those earning $ 540,009 or more – accounted for 40% of federal income taxes paid.

The picture is a little different when it comes to all federal taxes.

The Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan research group, takes a different approach and makes estimates. It divides taxpayers into five income groups, or quintiles, and calculates all federal taxes, including personal income taxes, payroll taxes, and workers ‘and shareholders’ shares of corporate taxes.

“According to our numbers, 95% of all federal taxes are paid by households in the top two quintiles, those earning about $ 98,000 or more,” said Howard Gleckman, senior researcher at the Tax Policy Center.

AOC’s ‘tax the rich’ dress:Who is considered rich? And how much are they taxed?

Our decision

A Facebook post criticizing the post on a dress worn by Ocasio-Cortez said “the richest 1% pay 90% in income taxes.”

According to the latest IRS figures, 97% of federal income taxes in 2018 were paid by half of taxpayers, which includes taxpayers with adjusted gross income of nearly $ 44,000 and over.

We evaluate the message False.

Sources

Facebook, post, September 13, 2021

Tax Foundation, testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, March 21, 2021

Tax Foundation, “Summary of Latest Federal Income Tax Data, Update 2021,” February 3, 2021

Bloomberg Wealth, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Brings ‘Tax The Rich’ Message to New York’s Elite,” September 13, 2021

Email, President of the Tax Foundation, Scott Hodge, September 14, 2021

Instagram, post by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, September 13, 2021

Heritage Foundation, “In 1 Chart, How much the rich pay in taxes”, March 3, 2021

The Guardian, “” Medium is the message “: AOC defends the” tax the rich “dress worn at the Met Gala, September 14, 2021

National Taxpayers Union Foundation, “Who Pay Income Taxes?”, Accessed September 14, 2021

Email, Howard Gleckman, Principal Investigator at the Tax Policy Center, September 14, 2021

CNN, “AOC’s ‘Tax the Rich’ Dress Designer Responds to Criticism,” September 14, 2021

Center for Fiscal Policy, “T21-0088 – Basic Distribution of Federal Income and Taxes, All Tax Units, by Expanded Percentile of Cash Income, 2021,” August 5, 2021