That 47% of people who paid no additional Federal income taxes,
made up of low wage earners, the disabled, the elderly, etc. -- was the percent in 2009, in the worst part of the recession. The number was much higher than it had been in previous years simply because wages had suddenly dropped -- and it included people whose taxes had been legislatively reduced as part of the Economic Recovery Act.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/chart-of-the-day-these-are-the-47-percent.php
Moreover, and this is key, the 47 percent is only 47 percent because of the recession. As CBPP wrote in May, the high number “reflects the unique circumstances of 2009, when the recession greatly swelled the number of Americans with low incomes and when temporary tax cuts created by the 2009 Recovery Act — including the “Making Work Pay” tax credit and an exclusion from tax of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits — were in effect. Together, these developments removed millions of Americans from the federal income tax rolls. Both of these temporary tax measures have since expired. In a more typical year, 35 percent to 40 percent of households owe no federal income tax. In 2007, the figure was 37.9 percent.”
As CBPP tax expert Chuck Marr explained to me, this is a good phenomenon, and one that helped prevent the economy from sinking even further in 2009.
“The place to start on this though is that the years discussed are just not typical — this is the worst economic climate since the Great Depression,” Marr said. The numbers have been bumped by about 10 percentage points “that’s what you want — should we argue that we should raise taxes on these people to keep it at 37 percent?”
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