Federal Budget in Pictures

Heritage Foundation

2012 Budget Chart Book

entitlementsA Product of the Entitlements Initiative

The Top 10 Percent of Income Earners Paid 71 Percent of Federal Income Tax

The U.S. tax system is highly progressive. The top 1 percent of income earners paid 40 percent of all federal income taxes in 2006, while the bottom 50 percent paid 3 percent. Further, 32 percent of all tax returns with positive adjusted gross income, 43 million total, filed in 2006 were from people who paid no federal income tax at all.



 
 

Key Research:

In Depth

  • Policy Papers for Researchers

  • Technical Notes

    The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2012 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2011 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2013 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except... Read More

  • Authors


  • Emily Goff

    Research Associate, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies


  • Romina Boccia

    Research Coordinator, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies


  • John Fleming

    Senior Data Graphics Editor