How high are our taxes?

Among those of us who maintain that not everything the federal government does should be either privatized or eliminated, it's common to point out that income tax rates are a lot lower than they used to be, especially but not only for the rich. So are taxes on capital gains--another talking point, even without the benefit of a wealthy presumptive nominee for president drawing attention to them.

But it's not just that federal income taxes are lower and less progressive than they used to be. They're also far lower than the tax brackets suggest--and far lower than many people think. Yesterday's David Leonhardt column offers a primer:

A large majority of American households--about two out of three--pays less than 15 percent of income to the federal government, through either income taxes or payroll taxes. . . . because of tax breaks, like the exclusion for
health insurance, and because marginal rates apply to only a small part
of a taxpayer’s income. On the first $70,000 of a couple’s taxable
income, the total federal income tax rate is only 13.8 percent.