Where have you gone Mr. Millionaire?

Geez and I thought all those millionaires did was sip on mimosas while flying in to Martha's Vineyard...........

Newsalert has posted a chart from a Wall Street Journal blog titled “Recession and the Rich.” The chart, based on 2009 IRS figures, shows that the number of taxpayers reporting annual income over $1 million fell 39 percent between 2007 and 2009; the number of super-wealthy individuals making over $10 million annually plunged 55 percent.

The carnage wasn’t confined to millionaires. The number of taxpayers earning over $200,000 per year also decreased by 612,000 – or 13 percent.

If you are tempted to join Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in a bit of schadenfreude over the fact that nearly four in ten millionaires disappeared in two years, don't be. The chart also shows how the loss of these top income earners adversely affected the federal government’s bottom line.

In 2007, those making above $200,000 (but less than $1 million) paid $610 billion in federal income taxes. In 2009, it was only $434 billion – leading to a 29 percent decrease in government revenue.

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