how many pay income tax?

The SOI tables may help you in your quest for this information.

See the charts on the National Taxpayers Union website.

Condor

They ought to list the AMT as well so that we know who it tends to affect. I also found that they have statistics by zip code but you have to pay for it for the newer years ($25 per state, $500 for all states).

this is closer, but still not it.

doesn't that just refer to tax returns filed? It says nothing about those who need not file tax returns.

The only possible way to estimate what you want is to use the total population. The Census Bureau (CB) estimates that on 7/1/05 the US population was 295,895,897.

IRS data for 2005, shows that 134,272,678 individual returns were filed containing 269,043,070 exemptions. So we have around 27 million people of all ages unaccounted for. In addition, within the 134,272,678 returns were returns with no tax. As that data is available to you, you could look at the IRS SOI tables and add those who filed and paid no tax to those missing 27 million to get an estimate.

Do you mean federal, or state? Do you mean income tax, or tax on earned income? Do you mean this year only, or including deferrals into the future (in other words, do you count someone who pays taxes every year for ten years the same as someone who pays tax all in one year upon recognition of ten years' worth of income)?

How you answer depends on what point you are trying to make. Bottom 50% based on current total income, current taxable income, current wealth, or current standard of living?

Just because they didn't file a return doesn't mean they didn't pay income tax, for example withholding or refundable credits that aren't claimed.

-Mark Bole