Top 400 U.S. Households Paid 18% Average Tax Rate in 2010

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-21/top-400-u-s-households-paid-average-of-18-tax-rate-in-2010.html

The top 400 taxpayers in the U.S. paid an average tax rate of 18 percent in 2010, the lowest since 2007, according to Internal Revenue Service data released today.

The wealthiest taxpayers earn a majority of their money from capital gains, which are taxed at preferential rates, letting them pay effective rates far below the 35 percent marginal income tax rate that year.

People who earn all of their income from wages often pay a higher tax rate than the very wealthiest Americans, said Leonard Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center in Washington. The comparable rate for all taxpayers in 2010 was 11.8 percent, and that includes more than 40 percent of households that paid no income taxes that year.

The data show the highest-income U.S. households rebounding from the recession in 2009. The minimum adjusted gross income needed for the exclusive list rose 28 percent, to $99.1 million, and the average income of those on the list reached $265 million.

The IRS data offer a glimpse into the finances of the wealthiest U.S. households, who now receive more than twice the share of national income than they did in 1995.