Interesting tax facts:

Upper-incomers continue to bear even more of the income tax load with the highest burden since the 1986 tax reform act passed. The IRS analyzed data from the 2006 to 2007. Results are as follows:

• Top 1% of filers paid 40.4% of all income tax, up from 39.9% the previous year. Those taxpayers reported just 22.8% of the total adjusted gross income on returns. The minimum AGI level in the top 1% rose to a new high... $410,100.
• The highest 5% paid 60.6% of total income tax and made 37.4% of all AGI. Each had adjusted gross incomes of $160,000.
• The top 10% of all filers, those who had AGIs of $113,000 or higher, bore 71.2% of the overall tax burden, while garnering slightly more than 48% of the total adjusted gross income.
• The bottom 50% of all filers paid just 2.9% of the total income tax bill.
  
  

(Source: Kiplinger Tax Letter Vol. 84, No 16, Aug 7, 2009)