How were the benefits of the first Bush tax cut allocated?
McIntyre: Bush s first tax cut affected the personal income tax. By the time it is fully phased in, just over half of it will go to the best off 1 percent of the population. MM: What would be the impact of the current plan? McIntyre: Bush s current tax cut plan has many pieces. The part that they are serious about getting enacted this year is the $726 billion part of their $1.6 trillion in total proposed tax cuts. A little over a third of that part would go to the richest 1 percent. Included in that $726 billion is Bush s proposal to eliminate most taxes on corporate dividends. About half of that would go to the richest people. Of the $726 billion total, just under half would go to the top 5 percent, 60 percent to the top tenth and about three quarters to the top fifth. MM: Do the bottom income groups get anything? McIntyre: The bottom 60 percent get 8 percent of it. MM: What is the current status of the estate tax? McIntyre: It is being phased out. Between 2001 and 2009, the estate ta
