By Allison Linn
More than 35,000 people who had income of more than $200,000 in 2009 paid no federal income taxes that year, according to a?new report from the Internal Revenue Service.
The non-taxpayers were among the top 3 percent of all earners with more than $200,000 in "expanded income," which includes?adjusted gross income plus other less common sources of income such as tax-exempt interest or foreign income.
The number of wealthy people who paid no federal income taxes rose between 2007 and 2009, thanks in part to new tax credits, according to the report.?
Programs such as a relatively new refundable alternative minimum tax credit and the first-time homebuyer credit helped a tiny portion of these wealthy earners to zero out their federal tax bill.
Some of those credits were introduced as a way to help spur spending and economic growth.??Previously, the main tax credits available only applied to people with lower incomes.
For 2009, the report found that about nearly 4 million people, or about 2.8 percent of all taxpayers, had expanded income of $200,000 a year. About 0.8 percent of them, or?35,061 people, paid no federal income tax.
More than 4,000 of those people benefited from the new tax credits, according to the report.
The total number of wealthy people?who did not pay any income taxes increased slightly from 2008 but saw a major jump from 2007, likely due to a combination of factors.
In general, the report noted,?it takes a number of?credits and deductions for?a wealthy person can zero out a tax bill.?These can include things like tax-exempt interest, medical deductions and charitable contributions.
Some wealthy taxpayers are also likely paid taxes to other countries even if they did not pay them in this country.
Nearly half of all? American households don?t pay any federal income taxes, thanks to tax credits, deductions and other provisions in the tax code. However, many of those taxpayers are poor or elderly.
The issue of whether wealthy people pay their fair share of income taxes has been in the spotlight for nearly a year, since billionaire Warren Buffett implored lawmakers to tax the rich more. The so-called Buffett Rule, which would have required some millionaires to pay more in taxes, was rejected by the Senate in April.
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The day of the parade was supposed to be really hot. ?I think it?s the hottest parade day we?ve ever had since we lived here. ?Mom and Dad made plans for us to stay in the basement in comfort while the parade was going on. ?I had my snazzy pink Thundershirt to wear, too, since they like to blare their sirens and drums sometimes. ?Kuster and Morgan both had their crates downstairs and when people started arriving, Mom took Blue and I downstairs with our beds and left the television on so we could watch something while the humans were outside. ?Dad had some SAR training that morning, so Mom was the only one home with us, at least until Dad could get home from his class.
Mom hadn?t realized that people were at the house, because they were hanging out outside and she was finishing getting ready inside. ?When she realized people were here, she hurried Blue and me downstairs and rushed to take the stuff outside to the table. ?As she went out, she pulled the last outside door closed behind her so the cold air wouldn?t go outside so much.
She went to the front to talk with the family and Stepgranny asked her if she could put the fruit salad in the refrigerator. ?Mom went to get it and take it inside and realized that everyone was locked out of the house. ?She called Dad, just before the parade was starting, and he said he was just leaving training. ?Mom had a bad feeling about him getting there to see any of the parade with us, and she reminded him to hurry up. ?Sadly, this meant that I have no pictures from the parade to show you, since the camera was locked inside with us.
Down in the basement, I had no worries whatsoever. ?I didn?t know we were locked in and I had Morgan and Kuster to keep me safe, along with my snazzy pink shirt and a comfortable couch. ?As far as I?m concerned, that is the way to enjoy the parade. ?Let the humans sit out there catching candy and sweat.
After Mom came back, a lot of the humans were leaving. ?Tractor Guy and Peanut?s family had a wedding to go to. ?Hot Dog and Favorite Niece?s family had a graduation party to go to. ?Even Number Nine was at a graduation party for a classmate and had to be picked up. ?So, it was time for the most important part of the party, which was my big appearance.
I went out in the heat to greet my company and enjoyed seeing them immensely. Grandma couldn?t resist feeding me potato chips and being a good hostess, I had to oblige. ?I mean, really, it would have been rude not to. ?After a few minutes, Blueberry came out to join us, too. ?We charmed the guests as best we could until we just couldn?t take the heat anymore and Dad brought us inside. ?The rest of our guests had to leave at that point, anyway.
It was a shorter party than usual, but it was a lot of fun. ?The best part was that Dad cooked some hot dogs on the grill just for us, which we enjoyed for dinner and for breakfast on Sunday. ?Just call me the hostess with the mostest! ?We?ll see everyone back in July for our fireworks party.
