Do the Rich Pay their Fair Share of Income Taxes?

WSJ :

•  The top 1% of earners in 2021 provided 45.8% of tax revenue;  
•  the top 10% provided 75.8%; 
•  the bottom 50% provided 2.3%. 

 The obvious justification for this kind of inequality is incentives.  If we pay people who create more wealth more, we get more wealth. 

  Claude.ai: 

•  Denmark: The top 10% of income earners in Denmark pay around 28% of all Danish income tax revenue collected. However, Denmark has very high income tax rates across the board compared to the US, with even average earners paying around 36-37% in income taxes. 
•  China: vIncome inequality is high in China, with the top 10% earning around 41% of total national income as of 2015. However, taxes on high incomes in China are relatively low compared to Western nations. The top marginal income tax rate is only 45%. 
• France: the top 10% of income earners pay around 70% of all income tax revenue. 
• Germany: the top 10% pay about 55% of all income tax. 
• UK: the top 10% contribute around 60% of income tax revenue. 
• Sweden, despite high taxes overall, only around 27% of income taxes come from the top 10% of earners due to a more even income distribution. 

So while the exact percentages vary, it is common across developed nations for a relatively small percentage of top earners to contribute a disproportionately large share of total income tax revenues due to progressive tax rate structures. Denmark's flatter overall tax system leads to more evenly distributed tax contributions across incomes.