this 46 or 47% number of americans who supposedly pay no income tax keeps getting thrown around, especially by the political right in the US. we are supposed to be outraged that almost half of americans pay no income tax. in reality, the actual number of americans who "pay no income tax" is actually americans who "pay zero or negative income tax".

as a personal example, i got a tax refund last year. therefore, i qualify for the 46-47% who "paid no income tax". but, how did i get a refund if i paid no tax? the answer is that i *DID* pay income tax, but i overpaid my share based on my income and deductions. as a result, i got a refund of the amount i OVERPAID in taxes but i hardly paid zero income tax last year.

i realize that we will never stop having political candidates who are willing to stretch any amount of data to fit their narrative for re-election, but it completely frustrates the hell out of me to hear this particular stat being used to drum up republican support when the reality is that the vast majority of americans *do* pay income tax, but those of us who overpay our income taxes are somehow cheating the system or something