The Progressive focus on tax rates but the real story is that the lowest 40% pay a negative tax, meaning they profit from the tax code.

Despite Record Collections, 52,062,499 Filers Paid No Income Taxes in 2014

By Terence P. Jeffrey | April 18, 2017 | 12:30 PM EDT 

(AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - In tax year 2014, according to a report published by the Internal Revenue Service, the federal government hauled in a then-record $1,377,797,136,000 in individual income taxes.

Nonetheless, of the 148,606,578 individual income tax return filers that year, 52,062,499 (or 35 percent) filed what the IRS calls “nontaxable returns,” which means they paid no net individual income taxes.

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More significantly 

On average, those in the bottom 40% of the income spectrum end up getting money from the government. Meanwhile, the richest 20% of Americans, by far, pay the most in income taxes, forking over nearly 87% of all the income tax collected by Uncle Sam. 

Read: Compared to most countries, we’re undertaxed — honest

Rich people pay nearly 87% of all federal individual income tax in America

Income level	Share of total federal  individual income tax paid	Average income tax bill  per person
Lowest 20%	-2.2%	-$643
Second lowest 20%	-1.7%	-$621
Middle income	4.2%	$1,743
Second richest 20%	12.9%	$6,285
Richest 20%	86.8%	$50,176

Source: Tax Policy Center