Among the now 43 percent (not 47 anymore) of households expected to pay no federal income tax in 2013 — most of whom are elderly and/or earning less than $20,000 a year — are 4,000 households who earn at least $549,374. Those folks likely pay foreign taxes, or earn tax-exempt bond interest.
By my very rough calculation, that’s at least $2.1 billion in income that is not being federally taxed. There are arguments to be made as to whether that’s fair… but fair or not, it sure is striking, don’t you think?
Check it out for yourself:
TPC Tax Topics | Who Doesn’t Pay Federal Taxes?.
Meanwhile, you know what else is valued at about $2 billion? Thanks to the Washington Post and some guy named Snowden, we learned today that the CIA allocates $2.3 billion (out of a total national “Black Budget” of $52.6 billion) for human intelligence operations. And that in the intelligence community, the most commonly spoken foreign language is… Spanish. Followed by Arabic. Farsi doesn’t make the top list–it’s the main language of Iran and Afghanistan.
You can check out the Black Budget for yourself, too.
The way we choose to collect revenue, the way we spend it… It can stun a girl.
But I’d rather be stunned than in the dark. Always.
Diary of a Corporate Wife 
It’s shocking. Here in the world in which we pay taxes, one of the considerations that keeps a spouse home is that so much of his or her income would be eaten up in taxes, it doesn’t make financial sense to work, especially give the costs of child care. Too bad we’re not one of the 4,000.