Tax Nonpayers

The Tax Foundation has released a new Fiscal Fact detailing the growing number of Americans who will pay zero federal income tax in 2006 after taking advantage of deductions and credits:

Roughly 43.4 million tax returns, representing 91 million individuals, will face a zero or negative tax liability in 2006.  When the 15 million Americans who file no tax return are included, roughly 121 million Americans—or 41% of the U.S. population—will be completely outside the federal income tax system this year.

Here are the top 5 and bottom 5 states ranked by the percentage of tax nonpayers:

Tax Nonpayers by State
State	Percentage of Nonpayers
1. Mississippi	43%
2. Louisiana	40%
3. Arkansas	38%
4. New Mexico	38%
5. Alabama	38%
U.S. Average	32%
46. Minnesota	26%
47. New Hampshire	24%
48. Connecticut	24%
49. Massachusetts	24%
50. Alaska	20%