Two articles were published recently about a new book that makes the point that billionaires pay at a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans.

The book is The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times, in a column called “The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You”: 

For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate — spanning federal, state and local taxes — than any other income group, according to newly released data.

Since then, taxes that hit the wealthiest the hardest — like the estate tax and corporate tax — have plummeted, while tax avoidance has become more common.

President Trump’s 2017 tax cut, which was largely a handout to the rich, plays a role, too. It helped push the tax rate on the 400 wealthiest households below the rates for almost everyone else.

The overall tax rate on the richest 400 households last year was only 23 percent, meaning that their combined tax payments equaled less than one quarter of their total income. This overall rate was 70 percent in 1950 and 47 percent in 1980.

Christopher Ingraham writes in the Washington Post:

In 2018, for the first time in history, America’s richest billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than the working class.

“The Triumph of Injustice,” by economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California at Berkeley, presents a first-of-its kind analysis of Americans’ effective tax rates since the 1960s. It finds that in 2018 the average effective tax rate paid by the richest 400 families in the country was 23 percent, a full percentage point lower than the 24.2 percent rate paid by the bottom half of American households.

In 1980, by contrast, the 400 richest had an effective tax rate of 47 percent. In 1960, that rate was as high as 56 percent. The effective tax rate paid by the bottom 50 percent, by contrast, has changed little over time.

When you see these data, it becomes clear why our society can’t afford to pay for good education or healthcare that covers everyone.

Consider this:

Forbes annually publishes a list of the 400 richest people in America.

This is the 2019 list. 

Number one is Jeff Bezos. He lost some of his net worth because of his divorce. His ex-wife collected over $36 billion from Jeff, which made her one of the 400.

The rich have gotten so rich that 221 billionaires didn’t make the cut.

Under our current tax structure, the top 400 will continue to get richer and richer, while the public sector pays more for defense and less for social welfare.

Our tax structure is a statement of our priorities.

What do we value?

Why, in a democracy, do people who are living from paycheck to paycheck—or have no steady job— support politicians who voted to reduce the taxes of the Forbes 400? Why do they put on a red hat and cheer for the man who gave the Forbes 400 a hefty tax cut?