US tax revenue by the top 10 percent

1. What the headline numbers say: roughly 72–76 percent

Public-facing summaries using 2022 IRS data report that the top 10 percent of filers paid between about 72 percent and 76 percent of federal individual income taxes: USAFacts reports the top 10 percent paid about 72 percent of income-tax revenue in 2022 (people with at least $178,611) ^[1], while the National Taxpayers Union Foundation summarizes data putting the top 10 percent’s share at about 76 percent ^[2]. Multiple data visualizations and tax-research groups replicate figures in that neighborhood, making a robust case that the top decile funds the majority of federal income-tax receipts ^{[3] [4]}.

2. Why numbers differ: definitions, data vintage and scope matter

Differences in reported shares come from methodological choices: whether the analysis covers federal income tax only (and whether that excludes payroll taxes), which tax year is used, how income is measured (AGI versus taxable income), and whether refundable credits or special deductions are allocated across brackets ^{[5] [6]}. Some outlets present “income tax” shares using IRS distribution tables for tax year 2022, while others aggregate across fiscal receipts or include payroll and corporate taxes, producing different headline shares for the top decile ^{[1] [7]}.

3. What “top 10 percent” means in dollars and rates

Analyses typically identify the top 10 percent threshold in 2022 around roughly $178,600 in adjusted gross income; filers above that mark contributed an outsized share of total income-tax revenue ^{[1] [5]}. Within that top decile, average effective income-tax rates rise markedly compared with lower brackets—Tax Foundation’s summary of IRS data shows taxpayers between the 10th and 5th percentiles (roughly the upper decile) paid average rates near 14.3 percent, substantially higher than rates for the bottom half ^[5].

4. The top 1% and the broader context of “who pays”

Drilling deeper, the very top payers amplify the top-decile share: analyses show the top 1 percent pay a disproportionately large share of income taxes—figures in different reports place that share in the high twenties to thirties percentiles of total income-tax revenue, and top-1 contributions are often highlighted to explain part of the top-10 total ^{[8] [9]}. Observers stress that because income and wealth concentration have grown, the concentration of income-tax payments at the top has increased in recent years ^{[10] [3]}.

5. Caveats: effective vs statutory rates, tax expenditures, and political lenses

Experts emphasize that statutory marginal rates differ from effective tax rates actually paid because of deductions, credits, preferential treatment of capital gains, and other tax expenditures; a Yale Budget Lab analysis notes substantial dispersion in effective rates at the top and estimates that eliminating certain provisions could raise significant revenue ^[6]. Institutional players bring their own agendas: taxpayer advocacy groups highlight top-decile shares to argue tax progressivity ^[2], while other think tanks and commentators may stress the limits of headline shares or the benefits high earners receive from tax provisions ^{[4] [8]}.

6. Bottom line and reporting limits

Based on contemporaneous public analyses of IRS 2022 data, the best-supported, defensible answer is that the top 10 percent of earners paid roughly 72–76 percent of federal individual income-tax revenue, with the exact number varying by data source and definitions; this does not automatically settle normative questions about fairness, overall tax burden across all federal taxes, or how much revenue could be raised through changing specific tax provisions ^{[1] [2] [3] [6]}. Some official fiscal datasets cited in broader revenue discussions are difficult to parse for distributional shares without further processing, a limitation noted across the sampled sources ^[7].