How many people pay taxes each year in the US?

There were 131,113,969 returns filed in 2004. Of those who filed, 42,545,501 (32.4%) had zero tax liability. This is estimated to increase to in excess of 40% in 2009. A filer can represent an individual, a household or in some instances a small business in the form of a proprietorship. Contrary to a quip previously posted that only the poor pay taxes, the top 1% in terms of adjusted gross income (AGI) account for 39.9% of income tax collected in 2006. The top 25% (AGI > $64,702) account for 86.27% while the bottom 50% of filers by income don't even add up to 3% of collections. - BB From the Tax Foundation: In 2004, a record 42.5 million tax returns

• one-third of all returns filed - had no income tax liability

because of the available credits and deductions in the tax code. This is a 42 percent increase in the number of zero-tax filers in just four years. In addition to these zero-tax filers are the 15 million individuals or households who do not earn enough to file a tax return. Overall, nearly 58 million taxable households are outside of the income tax system. These findings raise serious questions about the future of the U.S. income tax system. Are any future tax cuts, or even tax reforms, possible when the lion's share of the tax burden is increasingly borne by a shrinking pool of taxpayers who - at least on paper - appear to be "upper-income"? And will the expanding pool of non-payers demand even higher income taxes?

http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/542.html