Back to Politics

WASHINGTON  — Everyone paid taxes on April 15, right? Wrong. Tens of millions of Americans will pay no federal taxes this year.

Americans will file about 132 million tax returns this year and all will pay less in federal taxes due to three Bush tax cuts. But 44 million people will pay no federal taxes at all — that's the highest number in U.S. history and it translates to 33 percent of all tax filers.

Before the Bush cuts were implemented the number of filers who paid no federal taxes was 30 million, or 23 percent of all tax filers. These numbers are much larger than those from 1980 when the revolt against federal income tax rates began.

Who are the zero tax filers? They are the ones who have enough deductions and credits to erase their federal liability. That means after taking all legal credits and deductions, they will receive back every penny of federal income taxes withheld.

In addition to these 44 million zero-tax filers there are another 14 million whose incomes are so low, $20,000 or less, they are off the tax roles entirely. Add to that the dependents, children, family members and those who aren't taxed at all — it equals 122 million Americans who live completely outside the federal tax system.

Back to Politics