Fox's Katie Pavlich falsely claims that “the top 1 percent pay 90 percent of the taxes” to argue that we cannot raise taxes on the wealthy

In 2016, the top 1 percent paid 37.3 percent of individual income taxes

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the March 28 edition of Fox News' Outnumbered:

KATIE PAVLICH (CO-HOST): With tax day just more than two weeks away and some 2020 Democrats pushing a tax the mega-rich agenda, new Fox News polling shows a change in how Americans feel about taxes. They no longer say their biggest gripe is how much they pay, it's that the rich don't pay enough. There's also a role reversal in how the parties view their taxes. The number of Democrats who say their taxes are too high is 59 percent, up ten points from last year. But the trend is going the other way among the GOP. 59 percent of Republicans said their taxes were too high last year and now only 50 percent feel that way. So Melissa, you're the money gal, the numbers lady. Don't the top 1 percent pay 90 percent of the taxes? So where are we going to get more payments for the tax here?

MELISSA FRANCIS (CO-HOST): It's interesting that you would ask that, because I did go and consult the IRS and Bloomberg to go through those numbers. I didn't find exactly what you said but I found that the bottom 50 percent pay 3 percent of the taxes. So for those -- it's interesting, your perception that you're paying too much and that you want the rich to pay more. The bottom 50 percent are paying only 3 percent of the total bill. So in my mind, I know the top 5 percent pay 55 percent. It's just, it's -- I understand that wealthy people make more money so they're paying more, and that's how those ratios seem to not go together, but it just looks like -- I want everyone at the top and the bottom, all the way through, to pay less taxes. Because I feel like the government's totally inefficient with our money. You give it back to people, they spend it, they invest it. They do -- it's just, you know, makes the economy bigger. 

Related: 

Fox News Poll: What bugs voters most about taxes? Rich not paying enough

Tax Foundation: Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2018 Update

Previously:

Fox host complains about Fox News poll showing plurality of people want the rich taxed more

Fox Business panel panics over Democratic proposals to tax the wealthy: “That is communist”

Fox host: There's no point in increasing taxes on the wealthy because “they will come up with various structures to hide income”