Overall the rich are not getting richer… (taxable, tax return, money)

[cdelena]

Statistics do not support the ‘rich get richer and the poor get poorer’ tag line.

A Treasury study examined a large sample of 96,700 income tax returns from 1996 and 2005 for Americans over the age of 25. The study tracks what happened to these tax filers over the 10-year period.

‘Only one income group experienced an absolute decline in real income -- the richest 1% in 1996. Those households lost 25.8% of their income. Moreover, more than half (57.4%) of the richest 1% in 1996 had dropped to a lower income group by 2005.’

‘One of the notable, and reassuring, findings is that nearly 58% of filers who were in the poorest income group in 1996 had moved into a higher income category by 2005.’

Free Article - WSJ.com

[Philip T]

<In Scarlett O'Hara voice>

Lorrdsy May! What's our po' ol' rich folk to do?

===============

OK, that is a funny spin.

But do tell what does reported taxable income have to do with wealth?

Taxable income is how the working slobs make their money. Asset wealth and gains -- including offshore is how the wealthy make theirs. That does not show up so well on Income Tax returns.

[gvillager]

I've got to agree with Philip T. The rich know how to make tax free income, the poor do not.

Just look at those that made of the list of Forbes 400 richest Americans. In 2006 they had to be worth atleast 1 billion to be on the list, this year it's 1.3 billion. 30% higher!! As long as the stock market continues to hit new highs the rich will continue to get richer. Poor folks don't have any money to invest to get richer.

[FreeMarketSlave]

‘One of the notable, and reassuring, findings is that nearly 58% of filers who were in the poorest income group in 1996 had moved into a higher income category by 2005.’

Cancel all doom, everything is wonderful now!

[sean98125]

That bit about the poorest income group ignores the fact that Bush created a new 10% tax bracket at the lowest end in 2001. Many taxpayers who had previously been in the lowest tax bracket were now in the next higher tax bracket, even though their income didn't change.

[lchoro]

There's a wide gap among the top quintile. They make more than twice as much on average than those in the next quintile. Those in the top 1 percent can probably lose 25% of their income and still remain in the top 5 or 10 percent.

Household Income Quintiles 2000-2005

[cdelena]

Just shows that people will believe what they want... the facts don't really count.

[lchoro]

If you're in the top 1 percent and your income drops by 25 percent, you're still making 20 times more than those in the bottom quintile. The lower income groups are still not going to catch up to those in the uppermost group (not that I'm implying that they're deserving of that outcome).

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by cdelena

Just shows that people will believe what they want... the facts don't really count.

EXACTLY!

Well put, indeed.

[davidt1]

I just read a report of a study done by the Department of Agriculture in the LA Times today. According to this study, 35.5 million people in this country went hungry in 2006. Take a moment to think about that. Any curious person has to wonder how can that happen in the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. I am sure there are some years the rich don't make as many millions or billions as they did the year before. I am also pretty sure the 35.5 million people who went hungry in 2006 didn't much make much at all.