Fact check: Taxes paid by 1%

1. Big Claim: The Top 1% Shoulder a Disproportionate Share — What the Numbers Say

The datasets provided describe substantial tax shares concentrated in the top 1%, but they are not uniform. U.S. IRS summaries in the materials state that the top 1% paid 40.4% of federal income taxes in 2022 with an average tax rate around 26.1%, and that in 2021 the top 1% paid as much as 46% of federal income taxes according to a separate summary ^{[1] [2]}. A 2025 summary reiterates the 40.4% figure and gives an average income and tax-rate snapshot for the group ^[1]. By contrast, Canadian data in these analyses shows the top 1% paid 21.5% of federal and provincial/territorial income taxes, with different average-income figures and a higher threshold indicated in one dataset ^{[3] [4]}. These differences reflect distinct tax systems, measurement conventions, and reporting periods.

2. The Numbers Depend on Definitions — Income, Taxes, and Timeframes Matter

Comparison across the supplied analyses reveals that definitions drive divergence: some datasets measure federal income taxes only for the United States and report the top 1% tax share as roughly 40%, while Canadian summaries combine federal and provincial taxes and report a ~21.5% share for the top 1%. The analyses also vary in which year or period they describe: one explicitly cites 2022 for the U.S. federal-tax share ^[1], another contrasts 2021 figures ^[2], and a 2025 table claims detailed distributional numbers under current law ^{[5] [1]}. Average incomes and thresholds differ across sources — one Canadian dataset lists the top‑1% threshold or average near $663,164 while another lists average income for that group at $513,700, illustrating how sampling and unit definitions (tax filers vs. families) change the headline metrics ^{[3] [1]}.

3. Progressivity: Headlines vs. Underlying Base of Taxation

Analyses offered characterize U.S. federal income taxes as progressive but sensitive to measurement choices, with the top 1% paying a higher share of taxes than their share of income in several datasets; however, one report cautions that including unrealized capital gains and wealth accrual would reduce apparent progressivity ^[6]. The provided U.S. figures show the top 1% earned between 22.4% and 26% of total adjusted gross income in different summaries while paying 40–46% of federal income tax, supporting the narrative of progressivity in income-tax liabilities ^{[1] [2]}. But the magnitude of the disparity depends on whether taxes are measured at the federal level only, whether other taxes (payroll, state/provincial, consumption) are included, and how capital income is treated.

4. Cross‑Country Perspective: Canada vs. United States in These Analyses

The Canadian analyses in the packet present a different picture: the top 20% pay 54.2% of total taxes while earning 46.4% of income, and the top 1% pay 21.5% of combined federal/provincial income taxes with average-income estimates that differ across datasets ^{[4] [3]}. These Canadian numbers are not directly comparable to the U.S. federal‑only statistics because Canada’s metric aggregates multiple tax layers and uses different units (families, filers, or tax units). The presence of both higher headline U.S. top‑1% tax shares and lower Canadian top‑1% shares in these summaries highlights the importance of tax base and scope when interpreting cross‑national claims ^{[4] [3] [1]}.

5. What the Conflicting Figures Tell Us and What They Don’t

The set of analyses collectively demonstrates that the top 1% pay a substantial share of income taxes in multiple contexts, but they do not converge on a single, universal number because of differing scopes (federal vs. combined), periods ^{[7] [8] [9]}, units (tax filers vs. families), and income definitions (AGI, taxable income, inclusion of unrealized gains). Some datasets emphasize the burden on the top 1% as evidence of progressivity ^[2], while others caution that alternative measures — including wealth gains — would change the picture ^[6]. Reading these claims responsibly requires matching the tax-share headline to the underlying population, tax base, and year before drawing policy conclusions.