How much of my earned income does the government take?

How much of my earned income does the government take?

The percentage of your earned income which the government takes depends on your income level. In general, the higher your income level, the more the government's going to be taking. And in general, the lower income you have, the less you're going to be paying in taxes. And many, many people have no taxes at all; they actually get money from the government, called the Earned Income Credit. The burden of taxation has been shifting more and more to upper-income people over many years, by taking away various kinds of deductions and tax shelters. So now, the top 1 percent of the population pays something like 20 percent of the total taxes due. And that's actually been growing because, by taking away tax deductions and credits, it means that the richer people have no other place to hide; they have to pay some taxes.