Liberals have been blasting Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney for paying such a low tax rate of 14% on his significant income but what they probably do not want the electorate to know is that the president pays a fairly low tax rate on his income as well.
According to President Obama’s 2011 federal income tax, he and his wife reported an adjusted gross income of $789,674. The Obamas paid $162,074 in total tax – an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%. The Obamas also reported donating 22% of their income to charity, which comes out to $172,130.
The President has been pushing for the “Buffett Rule,” a requirement that millionaires pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes. The rule is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett who famously pointed out that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Maybe the rule should of been called the “Obama Rule” seeing as how the president’s secretary, Anita Decker Breckenridge, makes only $95,000 a year yet pays a higher tax rate than the president does. The administration would not disclose what Breckenridge paid, saying only that it was a “slightly higher rate” than that of her boss. That “is exactly why we need to reform our tax code and ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share,” said spokeswoman Amy Brundage.
The Obama’s income place them in the 1% but their overall tax rate is slightly lower than the average for people in the top tier, largely because they made significant donations to charity. Data compiled by the Tax Policy Center show the average income-tax rate for those making more than $532,000 is 24 percent. Obama’s rate was closer to the average for household earning more than $210,000, which is 19.2 percent.
The president would not be effected by the Buffett Rule, but would see his taxes go up if the Bush tax cuts on higher income wage-earners were allowed to expire, as the president claims he wants.
The Devout Infidel 