47% will pay no federal income tax

According to CNNMoney.com:

In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable tax breaks.

The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-2012

From the Tax Policy Center‘s The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12:

Overall, the federal tax system is progressive: on average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income. Under current law, our tax laws will change markedly in each of the next few years, significantly altering the system’s progressivity between now and 2012. This paper summarizes the Tax Policy Center’s latest estimates of the distribution of federal taxes for each year from 2009 through 2012.

HT: Paul L. Caron