"Historical Federal Income Tax Rates for a Family of Four"

Fun with statistics!

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=226

For 2011, if you have a family of four and earn $38k, you have a negative 6.8% tax rate due to EITC. If you earned $151k, your tax rate would have been 13% (is it just me, or does this seem a bit low? I guess, this doesn’t include SS, Medicare/Medicade, state tax, 401k contribution or employer health insurance).

The whole thing went haywire after the bush tax cuts. Negative tax rates? They should get rid of them for all income levels.

What I find interesting is that since BO took office, the rate for a family at half the median income level has gone from negative 9.10% to negative 6.84%, effectively a 25% tax increase. Over the same period, a family at double the median income level has seen their rate go from 12.35% to 12.93%, an increase of 4.7%. Doesn’t really seem like BO is looking out for the poor folks.

The 2008-2011 Obama tax rates are generally lower than in pre-2008 periods. For instance, taxes for the lowest bracket in this table decreased from -2.79% to -8.33% from 2007 to 2008. However, taxes have been increasing from 2008 to 2011. This probably reflects the stimulus measures that were introduced in response to the 2008 financial crisis, but which are being phased out over time.

It’s hard to attribute these numbers to politics though. Obama was just responding to the environment. Another President would probably have done similar things.