According to the most recently available data from the Internal Revenue Service, the average income of the nation’s top four hundred taxpayers in twenty twelve was three hundred and thirty six million dollars. The top four hundred group, which changes from year to year, enjoyed a much better payday than they did in twenty eleven, when their average adjusted gross income was roughly two hundred and twenty million dollars.
In twenty twelve, the average federal tax bill for this group was a bit more than fifty six million dollars. According to CNNMoney, the group paid an average of sixteen point seven percent of their adjusted gross income in federal income taxes, down from the eighteen percent they paid in twenty ten. Roughly three quarters of the top four hundred tax filers paid an average rate below twenty percent in twenty twelve.
Thirty two actually paid less than ten percent. Effective tax rates for this group likely rose in twenty thirteen when a series of tax hikes that disproportionately wealthy went into effect, including a Medicare tax rate on high earners and the application of the Medicare tax to investment income for the first time.
