The rich pay a lot in federal income taxes. Watching debates over this you figured they didn’t pay one dime. That is not true and hard evidence from the federal government itself shows just what is paid by various income brackets of Americans. Full article is here from American Enterprise Institute.

Below is snapshot:

One of the main takeaways from this year’s report is that the richest Americans pay a lot in taxes. In 2013, the top 1% of households paid an average of 34% of their income in federal taxes. To compare, the middle 20% of households paid only 12.8% of their income in taxes. Moreover, taxes on the rich are much higher than they’ve been in recent years. Between 2008 and 2012, the top 1% of households paid an average tax rate of 28.8%. However, in 2013, this figure spiked to 34%, as a result of tax increases in the “fiscal cliff” deal and the Affordable Care Act.

We’ve known for a while that taxes rose on the rich in 2013, but the new CBO report puts in perspective exactly how high taxes on rich are now, compared to the last three decades. For instance, in 2013, the top 1% of taxpayers paid a higher tax rate (34%) than in the year Reagan took office (33.2%). According to the CBO, the federal tax system is now “the most progressive it has been since at least the mid-1990s.”