By  on June 11, 2026
The Tax Foundation says new Internal Revenue Service data for tax year 2023 shows the US federal income tax system continues to be progressive, as high-income taxpayers pay the highest average income tax rates. Click here to read more.

Some key points:

  • In 2023, taxpayers filed 153.1 million tax returns
  • They reported earning nearly $15.2 trillion in adjusted gross income (AGI), and paid $2.1 trillion in individual income taxes.
  • The average income tax rate in 2023 was 14.1%.
  • The top 1% of taxpayers paid a 26.3% average rate, seven times higher than the 3.7 percent average rate paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.
  • The top 50% of all taxpayers paid nearly 97% of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50% paid the remaining 3%.

Click here to read the full report at the Tax Foundation.