Richest 25 Americans have a "true tax rate"of almost nothing: Report

The U.S. tax system is designed to be progressive, meaning that the wealthiest citizens pay a greater share of their income than the less fortunate. But a new ProPublica analysis of tax data on some of the nation's richest Americans comes to the conclusion that the richest 25 people in the U.S. have a "true tax rate" of almost nothing. 

The study, published Tuesday, relies on a "vast trove" of IRS data that was given to the news service without "conditions or conclusions." ProPublica said that it would not disclose the source of the data, and added that it verified the information by comparing it with publicly available details, such as from court documents and financial disclosures, as well as vetting information with the people whose tax information was disclosed.  The findings arrive at a crucial time in the national discourse on wealth and the fairness of the U.S. tax system. Prior to the pandemic, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act slashed tax rates for the wealthy and corporations, setting up a dynamic that effectively snowballed the nation's already widening income inequality. With the pandemic's outsized hit to low-income families — especially people of color and women — President Joe Biden is calling for higher taxes on the rich to help shore up the fortunes of poor and middle-class families.