By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 8/5/11 6:51 AM EDT Updated: 8/5/11 3:57 PM EDT

President Barack Obama and many Democrats are talking about raising taxes on the wealthy, and data released this week by the Internal Revenue Service offers new details about the number of Americans who fit that bill.
People and households earning $1 million or more annually made up just 0.1 percent, or just over 235,000, of the 140 million tax returns filed in 2009, and just 8,274 returns were filed by people making $10 million or more.

Though the tax rate for Americans earning a gross adjusted income of $1 million or more averaged 24.4 percent, up from 23.1 percent in 2008, that’s still lower than the 28.5 percent rate they paid in 2002 when President George W. Bush was in office.

And, the data show, the 235,413 taxpayers who reported earning seven digits or more in 2009 took in a total of $726.9 billion — yet 1,470 paid not a penny of income taxes. In 2007, 959 Americans earning $1 million or more paid no income taxes.
The returns filed in 2009 reflect income from 2008, the depths of the recession and financial crisis, and, under that backdrop, incomes fell sharply.
The vast majority of tax return filers — more than 97 percent — reported incomes of less than $200,000. The average income was $54,283, a drop of more than $3,500, or 6 percent, from 2008. That put the average income at its lowest level since 1997.
At the same time, the average tax rate declined from 12.5 percent in 2008 to 11.4 percent in 2009.
The amount of unemployment benefits claimed on tax returns nearly doubled 2008-09, the IRS found.

There is 1000 million in 1 billion. Now I ask you, what can a person do with all that money? Why are there starving children in this country? Why are there so many people suffering from lack of anything in this country?

Forbes 400

The Richest People in America

Browse The List

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Residence	Source
1	Bill Gates	$59 B	55	Medina, Washington	Microsoft
2	Warren Buffett	$39 B	81	Omaha, Nebraska	Berkshire Hathaway
3	Larry Ellison	$33 B	67	Woodside, California	Oracle
4	Charles Koch	$25 B	75	Wichita, Kansas	diversified
4	David Koch	$25 B	71	New York, New York	diversified
6	Christy Walton	$24.5 B	56	Jackson, Wyoming	Wal-Mart
7	George Soros	$22 B	81	Katonah, New York	hedge funds
8	Sheldon Adelson	$21.5 B	78	Las Vegas, Nevada	casinos
9	Jim Walton	$21.1 B	63	Bentonville, Arkansas	Wal-Mart
10	Alice Walton	$20.9 B	61	Fort Worth, Texas	Wal-Mart
11	S. Robson Walton	$20.5 B	67	Bentonville, Arkansas	Wal-Mart
12	Michael Bloomberg	$19.5 B	69	New York, New York	Bloomberg LP
13	Jeff Bezos	$19.1 B	47	Seattle, Washington	Amazon.com
14	Mark Zuckerberg	$17.5 B	27	Palo Alto, California	Facebook
15	Sergey Brin	$16.7 B	38	Los Altos, California	Google
15	Larry Page	$16.7 B	38	Palo Alto, California	Google
17	John Paulson	$15.5 B	55	New York, New York	hedge funds
18	Michael Dell	$15 B	46	Austin, Texas	Dell
19	Steve Ballmer	$13.9 B	55	Hunts Point, Washington	Microsoft
20	Forrest Mars	$13.8 B	80	Big Horn, Wyoming	candy
20	Jacqueline Mars	$13.8 B	71	The Plains, Virginia	candy
20	John Mars	$13.8 B	75	Jackson, Wyoming	candy, pet food
23	Paul Allen	$13.2 B	58	Mercer Island, Washington	Microsoft, investments
24	Phil Knight	$13.1 B	73	Hillsboro, Oregon	Nike
25	Carl Icahn	$13 B	75	New York, New York	leveraged buyouts
26	Donald Bren	$12 B	79	Newport Beach, California	real estate
26	Anne Cox Chambers	$12 B	91	Atlanta, Georgia	media
26	Ronald Perelman	$12 B	68	New York, New York	leveraged buyouts
29	Abigail Johnson	$11.7 B	49	Milton, Massachusetts	Fidelity
30	James Simons	$10.6 B	73	East Setauket, New York	hedge funds
31	George Kaiser	$10 B	69	Tulsa, Oklahoma	oil & gas, banking
32	Len Blavatnik	$9.5 B	54	London, N/A	diversified
33	Harold Simmons	$9.3 B	80	Dallas, Texas	investments
34	Jack Taylor	$9 B	89	St. Louis, Missouri	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
35	Steve Cohen	$8.3 B	55	Greenwich, Connecticut	hedge funds
36	Harold Hamm	$7.5 B	65	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	oil & natural gas
37	Rupert Murdoch	$7.4 B	80	New York, New York	News Corp
38	James Goodnight	$7.1 B	68	Cary, North Carolina	SAS Institute
39	Philip Anschutz	$7 B	71	Denver, Colorado	investments
39	Andrew Beal	$7 B	58	Dallas, Texas	banks, real estate
39	Steve Jobs	$7 B	56	Palo Alto, California	Apple, Pixar
39	Patrick Soon-Shiong	$7 B	59	Los Angeles, California	generic drugs
43	Samuel Newhouse	$6.6 B	83	New York, New York	Conde Nast
44	Ray Dalio	$6.5 B	62	Greenwich, Connecticut	hedge funds
44	Edward Johnson	$6.5 B	81	Boston, Massachusetts	Fidelity
46	Charles Ergen	$6.4 B	58	Denver, Colorado	EchoStar
46	Richard Kinder	$6.4 B	66	Houston, Texas	pipelines
48	Eli Broad	$6.3 B	78	Los Angeles, California	investments
48	Leonard Lauder	$6.3 B	78	New York, New York	Estee Lauder
50	Pierre Omidyar	$6.2 B	44	Honolulu, Hawaii	Ebay
50	Eric Schmidt	$6.2 B	56	Atherton, California	Google
52	Ralph Lauren	$6.1 B	71	New York, New York	Ralph Lauren
53	Jim Kennedy	$6 B	63	Atlanta, Georgia	media
53	Blair Parry-Okeden	$6 B	60	Scone, N/A	media
55	Donald Newhouse	$5.9 B	81	Somerset County, New Jersey	Conde Nast
55	Ira Rennert	$5.9 B	77	Sagaponack, New York	investments
57	Charles Butt	$5.7 B	73	San Antonio, Texas	supermarkets
58	David Geffen	$5.5 B	68	Malibu, California	movies, music
59	Jeffrey Hildebrand	$5.3 B	52	Houston, Texas	Oil
60	Richard DeVos	$5 B	85	Holland, Michigan	Amway
60	Richard LeFrak	$5 B	66	New York, New York	real estate
60	Frederik G.H. Meijer	$5 B	91	Grand Rapids, Michigan	supermarkets
60	Thomas Peterffy	$5 B	67	Greenwich, Connecticut	discount brokerage
60	David Tepper	$5 B	54	Livingston, New Jersey	hedge funds
60	Dennis Washington	$5 B	77	Missoula, Montana	construction, mining
66	Robert Rowling	$4.7 B	57	Dallas, Texas	investments
66	Stephen Schwarzman	$4.7 B	64	New York, New York	investments
66	Sam Zell	$4.7 B	69	Chicago, Illinois	real estate, private equity
69	Rupert Johnson	$4.5 B	70	Burlingame, California	Franklin Resources
69	John Malone	$4.5 B	70	Elizabeth, Colorado	cable television
69	John Menard	$4.5 B	71	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Retail
72	Charles Johnson	$4.4 B	78	Hillsborough, California	financial services
73	Ray Lee Hunt	$4.3 B	68	Dallas, Texas	oil, real estate
73	Bruce Kovner	$4.3 B	66	New York, New York	hedge funds
75	Micky Arison	$4.2 B	62	Bal Harbour, Florida	Carnival Cruises
75	Leonard Stern	$4.2 B	73	New York, New York	real estate
75	Daniel Ziff	$4.2 B	39	New York, New York	investments
75	Dirk Ziff	$4.2 B	47	North Palm Beach, Florida	investments
75	Robert Ziff	$4.2 B	45	New York, New York	investments
80	Sumner Redstone	$4.1 B	88	Beverly Hills, California	Viacom
81	John Paul DeJoria	$4 B	67	Austin, Texas	hair products, tequila
81	David Green	$4 B	69	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Hobby Lobby
81	William Koch	$4 B	71	Palm Beach, Florida	oil, investments
81	Roger Wang	$4 B	62	Nanjing, Jiangsu	retail
85	Leslie Wexner	$3.8 B	74	New Albany, Ohio	retail
86	Henry Kravis	$3.7 B	67	New York, New York	leveraged buyouts
86	Gordon Moore	$3.7 B	82	Woodside, California	Intel
88	Robert Bass	$3.6 B	63	Fort Worth, Texas	oil, investments
88	Jin Sook & Do Won Chang	$3.6 B	56	Beverly Hills, California	retail
88	Trevor Rees-Jones	$3.6 B	60	Dallas, Texas	Oil & Gas
91	John Arnold	$3.5 B	37	Houston, Texas	hedge funds
91	Dustin Moskovitz	$3.5 B	27	San Francisco, California	Facebook
91	Henry Ross Perot	$3.5 B	81	Dallas, Texas	computer services, real estate
91	John Sall	$3.5 B	63	Cary, North Carolina	SAS Institute
91	Charles Schwab	$3.5 B	74	Atherton, California	discount brokerage
96	Dannine Avara	$3.4 B	47	Houston, Texas	pipelines
96	Gayle Cook	$3.4 B	77	Bloomington, Indiana	medical devices
96	Scott Duncan	$3.4 B	28	Houston, Texas	Pipelines
96	Milane Frantz	$3.4 B	42	Houston, Texas	Pipelines
96	Bruce Halle	$3.4 B	81	Paradise Valley, Arizona	Discount Tire