Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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The Claim

The top 1 percent of US taxpayers pay approximately 40 percent of all federal income tax revenue.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Recent IRS-based data place the top 1% at roughly 38% to 42% of federal individual income taxes, so “approximately 40 percent” is an accurate summary. The claim is reliable when read narrowly as individual federal income tax share. Confusion arises only when it is mistakenly compared with the top 1% share of all federal taxes, which is a different measure.

Caveats

  • This statistic refers to federal individual income taxes, not all federal taxes such as payroll, excise, or corporate taxes.
  • The exact share varies by tax year; recent cited figures range from about 38% to 42%.
  • The number does not, by itself, establish whether the tax system is fair or how the top 1% compare on total tax burden.

The Receipts

  1. SOI Tax Stats – Individual Income Tax Rates and Tax Shares

    Internal Revenue Service

  2. Who pays the most income tax?

    USAFacts

  3. Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2025 Update

    Tax Foundation

  4. How Do We Tax the Top 1% — And What That Means for the Federal Budget

    Peter G. Peterson Foundation

  5. Who Pays Income Taxes?

    National Taxpayers Union Foundation

  6. Tax Day: Five Charts on Who Pays, How Much

    Substack (Adam N. Michel)

  7. Do the Rich Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes?

    American Institute for Economic Research

  8. The 'funny math' of top U.S. tax rates

    Washington Center for Equitable Growth

  9. Who Is Paying Their Fair Share of Taxes? A New Analysis and Interactive Tool

    Yale Budget Lab

  10. Who Pays Income Taxes?

    Marine Bank

Filed Under

IRSUnited States

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