On the recordApril 28, 2010
Well, actually, as we heard just a few weeks ago, about 47 percent of the lowest income earners in America pay almost no income tax. They do pay a significant employment tax, Social Security and Medicare. In fact, every American working pays 7.5 percent combined Social Security and employment tax. Income tax will vary. I think the average Federal income tax, people making $40,000 to $50,000 a year, was in the 3 or 4 percent range, which is still three or four times what Goldman Sachs was paying. And, of course, once you get to higher levels, the Federal income tax is somewhere--I think the average American making more than $250,000 a year pays an average of 23 percent. So that's just somebody making $250,000, $300,000 a year, not the billions and billions of dollars that Goldman Sachs has made. They pay 23 percent on average more than Goldman Sachs paid.





