"51% of Americans pay no income tax."

The first time I heard this it was the more plausible but still pointless "...pay no income tax on April 15." If you say it emphatically it sounds like a scandal.

First of all, "Americans" include children and the unemplyed without an income. They're not supposed to pay income tax.

Second, what wage-earners pay "on April 15," the federal filing date, doesn't mean much. Every worker, including illegal aliens, pays federal payroll tax and Social Security tax with each paycheck. In addition, many people have to make estimated quarterly payments. On April 15, you adjust your total income by taking deductions that are owed to you.

The result is that a great many people get refunds as of April 15 instead of having to send another check for having underpaid during the year. The IRS owes them money.

So, literally, a whole lot of people pay no income tax with their federal tax forms on April 15. But that doesn't say anything about who's paying how much or when.