Speaking of “millionaires and billionaires” (see here), the real tax news is that there are fewer of both these days. This month the IRS released more detailed tax data for 2009, and the nearby table records the decline of the taxpaying rich.
In 2007, 390,000 tax filers reported adjusted gross income of $1 million or more and paid $309 billion in taxes. In 2009, there were only 237,000 such filers, a decline of 39%. Almost four of 10 millionaires vanished in two years, and the total taxes they paid in 2009 declined to $178 billion, a drop of 42%.
For those who still believe the wealthy in America don’t pay enough in taxes, there’s this:
The millionaires who are left still pay a mountain of tax. Those who make $1 million accounted for about 0.2% of all tax returns but paid 20.4% of income taxes in 2009. Those with adjusted gross income above $200,000 a year were just under 3% of tax filers but paid 50.1% of the $866 billion in total personal income taxes. This means the top 3% paid more than the bottom 97%. Yet the 3% are the people that President Obama claims don’t pay their fair share. Before the recession, the $200,000 income group paid 54.5% of the income tax. (read more)
Progressive policies might restore income equality, but all they do is make rich people poor, not the other way around. Even the playground of the rich and elite, Martha’s Vineyard, hasn’t avoided the pain of Obama’s economy. One quote from a boutique owner really stands out in that story.
“Then August hit. My regulars are still pretty much coming in but my numbers are down—it’s considerable and we are not seeing the spending freedom. People are a little nervous and people who are extremely wealthy may be a little embarrassed to spend money,” she said, adding that she is having trouble paying her bills and that her employees won’t see a year-end bonus
So, Obama is handling the problem. His economic program is thinning the ranks so fast that his class warfare plan to redistribute more of their wealth to the government to waste it may not be needed.
As for corporate aircraft, he has handled that as well. Here are the figures for business aircraft shipments by US manufacturers for the past three years. In 2008, 2,451, for 2009 1,260, and for 2010 955. Worse yet, 2011 is expected to be even lower. Cessna which normally ships a third of these planes, their business was down 43% in 2009 and another 28% in 2010. Like the industry, their business is off more in 2011.
When Obama attacks corporate aircraft and wants to tax them more, he is well on his way to signalling the death knell for Cessna and the rest of the US manufacturers who supply business aircraft. The tax losses from their profits will be far larger than his plan to tax corporate aircraft.
This president is just clueless.