Investment tax reduction a greater boon for wealthy than previous Bush measures by David Cay Johnston
The first data to document the effect of President Bush's tax cuts for investment income show that they have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by $500,000 on average.
An analysis of Internal Revenue Service data by the New York Times found that the benefit of the lower taxes on investments was far more concentrated on the very wealthiest Americans than the benefits of Bush's two previous tax cuts, on wages and other noninvestment income.
When Congress cut investment taxes three years ago, it was clear that the highest-income Americans would gain the most, because they had the most money in investments. But the size of the cuts and what share went to each income group have not been known.
As Congress debates whether to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, the Times analyzed IRS figures for 2003, the latest year available and the first that reflected the tax cuts for income from dividends and from the sale of stock and other assets, known as capital gains.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0405-12.htm