Thursday, September 22, 2011

Tax burden

Thursday, September 22, 2011
SF Examiner

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Politician defends bill? Something is fishy
09/21/11 9:00 PM
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/letters-editor/2011/09/politician-defends-bill-something-fishy#ixzz1YikUh4U0

Tax burden is unequal
In the last several decades the wealth hasn’t been spread so much as concentrated — at the top. The share of total income going to the top 1 percent of income earners more than doubled from 9 percent in 1970 to 23.5 percent in 2007.
And while the rich do pay a greater proportion of their income in taxes, the share of total taxes paid by the richest Americans is commensurate with their share of national wealth.
Examining the total tax burden — state, federal and local — Citizens for Tax Justice calculated that the top 1 percent of households (average income $1.3 million) earned 20.3 percent of income and paid 21.5 percent of taxes in 2010.
The tax code is studded with a costly bevy of deductions and preferences — mortgage interest, employer-sponsored health insurance, retirement savings — that benefit wealthier taxpayers over those with modest incomes.
Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto

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