Tax Day, the most infamous date on the calendar to many individuals, falls upon April 18 this year. In spite of the resentment towards income taxes, the legal obligation nevertheless exists. There are some interesting things to learn about the system of taxation in The United States, like how almost 50 percent of Americans never owe the government a dime on Tax Day.

Little over half of Americans pay taxes on income

Instead of on April 15, Tax Day 2011 falls on April 18. This year nearly 45 percent of households won’t have to pay any taxes on their 2010 income, according to Bloomberg. The Earned Income Credit and Making Work Pay Credit are examples of exemptions and deductions that are common in the low-income households. You do not have to pay income taxes as long as you don’t make hardly any money. If you are on a fixed income such as Social Security or disability you won’t have to pay either, more than likely. If you don’t make much and have kids, you most likely won’t pay taxes either. This is generally the case. CNN states that $3,003 was the average tax refund last year.

Taxes lower for the wealthy

Daily Finance states that there has been a decrease for every person in taxes. Even the wealthy have been paying less. From 1992 to 2007, there was a decrease in the amount of income being paid by the 400 highest paid income tax returns. It went down from 26 percent to 17 percent on average. Though the wealthiest 10 percent account for more than half the nation’s tax revenue by dollar amount and the wealthiest 5 percent account for 44 percent, the more lucrative tax breaks, for instance for charitable contributions, are available to the rich. Annually, $8,000 could be given to every taxpayer with the over $1 trillion in tax breaks in the United States tax code. The Internal Revenue Service won’t let you take it though. You have to “deserve” this. USA Today states that now, there are more charges than ever the Internal Revenue Service wants to put out.

The little tax money given in The United States

Though many individuals protest the United States tax system for myriad reasons, most technical literature reveals that Americans pay very little income tax compared with the rest of the developed world, according to MSNBC. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, maintains data on taxes in the developed world. The OECD estimates that Americans average 24 percent of income paid in taxes, compared to 48 percent for Danes, 42 percent for the French, 37 percent in Germany and 27 percent in Australia.

Articles cited

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-18/nonpayers-complicate-republican-effort-at-overhaul-of-u-s-tax-code.html

CNN

money.cnn.com/2011/01/14/pf/taxes/tax_refund/index.htm

Daily Finance

dailyfinance.com/2011/04/18/super-rich-see-federal-taxes-drop-dramatically/

USA Today

usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2011-04-17-Prosecutions-of-tax-evaders-up.htm

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/42612937/ns/business-tax_tactics