Kent Conrad: “Senator Allard was making the argument that those at the highest income levels are actually going to bear a greater…”

“Senator Allard was making the argument that those at the highest income levels are actually going to bear a greater proportion of the total tax bill going forward than they did before the tax cuts. The analysis we have seen by others reaches a different conclusion. Let me share that with my colleagues. This is done by the Tax Policy Center which is run jointly by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Their conclusion is those with very high incomes will be paying a smaller share of total taxes as a result of the Bush tax cuts. Let me give three examples. Those with taxable incomes above $1 million who constitute 0.2 of a percent of taxpayers would pay 12 percent of total taxes in 2006 without the Bush tax cuts. With the tax cuts, these same pairs will pay 11.2 percent of total taxes in that year. This includes not only income taxes but payroll taxes.”