As President Barack Obama pushes to raise income taxes on high earners, opponents are seizing new data that indicates these U.S. households already pay a large and growing share of taxes. Also, a new congressional study concludes that the percentage of U.S. households owing no federal income tax climbed to 51 percent in 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Republicans are expected to highlight this today as they oppose Obama’s proposal to increase taxes for high earners, defined as families making more than $250,000 per year.

A 2008 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the highest-earning 10 percent of the U.S. population paid the largest share among 24 countries examined, even after adjusting for relatively higher incomes. The percentage of U.S. households paying no federal income tax has been climbing, and reached 51 percent for 2009, according to analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation.

“Most taxpayers are skeptical that the answer to our fiscal problems is for them to sacrifice more, when more than half of all households are not paying any income taxes and an increasingly smaller group of Americans is shouldering the burdens for an increasingly larger group of Americans,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

Democrats counter that the incomes of higher earners have been growing rapidly, so it’s only natural that they would pay a higher share of tax. Most Americans who pay no federal income tax do pay Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes that take a significant share of their income, they say.

For the full article in The Wall Street Journal, click here.
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