In tax year 2023 the top 1% of returns paid 38.4% of individual income tax
| Tax year 2023, by return | AGI above ($) | Share of AGI (%) | Share of income tax (%) | Average rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | 675,602 | 20.6 | 38.4 | 26.3 |
| Top 5% | 272,209 | 36.4 | 59.3 | 23.0 |
| Top 10% | 187,608 | 47.6 | 70.5 | 20.9 |
| Top 25% | 105,604 | 68.5 | 86.3 | 17.8 |
| Top 50% | 53,801 | 87.7 | 96.7 | 15.6 |
| Bottom 50% | 12.3 | 3.3 | 3.7 |
Source. IRS Statistics of Income, tax year 2023, as summarized by the Tax Foundation, “Who Pays Federal Income Taxes? Tax Year 2023” (April 2026). Tax year 2023.
Method and data
Method. Individual income tax only, by return, unadjusted: 153.1 million returns, $15.2 trillion of adjusted gross income (AGI), $2.14 trillion of tax. Not comparable with CBO’s distribution of all federal taxes by household (Exhibit 10).
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Higgins Strategy. “In tax year 2023 the top 1% of returns paid 38.4% of individual income tax” Exhibit 9, The Debt, the Waste and the Tax (Study X). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/10-tax-foundation-who-pays-2023/