Tax man cometh — not

Tax Day, April 15, is approaching. About 47 percent of Americans won’t be sweating it, though. According to the Tax Policy Center in Washington, that’s how many had no federal income tax liability for 2009. Their incomes were too low or they qualified for credits, deductions or exemptions that wiped out their bill to Uncle Sam. We’re not just talking about folks at the poverty line, either. The Associated Press reports a study by consulting firm Deloitte Tax found qualifying level for credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, have grown to the point where a family of four with $50,000 in income, with two children younger than 17, won’t owe any federal tax for 2009. Of course, that’s the kind of thing that helps steam the 53 percent who have a tax bill. And it suggests the day when there will be fewer people paying taxes than those not paying them might not be far away. Then we’ll be discussing the fairness of federal tax and spending policies borne by less than half the population.

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