Billionaires’ Effective Tax Rate: 24%

Using 2010–2020 matches between the Forbes 400 and IRS returns, researchers estimate the wealthiest Americans paid about 24% of 'economic income' in total taxes in 2018–2020. That’s below the roughly 30% for the overall population and far below the 45% faced by top labor-income earners. The drop from 30% (2010–2017) to 24% (2018–2020) coincides with more income escaping taxation and lower applicable rates. — It provides hard numbers on elite tax burdens and how recent policy and corporate payout choices shape them, grounding arguments over wealth taxation and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.