by Alison Storm | 04/13/10

April 15 is hardly just another day. It's Tax Day in America. Dreaded by some, and loved by others, it's a day for paying Uncle Sam what's owed or getting back that interest-free loan you've given the government. For nearly half of Americans Tax Day may not be that bad. According to the Tax Policy Center roughly 47 percent won't pay any federal income tax for 2009. The reason? Either their incomes were too low or they racked up enough credits, deductions and exemptions to compensate for anything they would have owed.

Experts say since credits for the low and middle income families have grown so much, a family can make as much as $50,000 a year and not owe any federal income tax. According to the Tax Policy Center, back in 2007  about 38 percent of households didn't pay federal income tax. The following year that number jumped to 49 percent. The economic recovery package signed by President Obama last year helped increase tax credits and the recession meant many Americans saw lowered incomes.

So who's covering the bill for national defense, public safety, education and infrastructure? Experts say it mostly falls on the top ten percent of earners. Statistics show that households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 paid about 73 percent of income taxes. "We have 50 percent of people who are getting something for nothing," said Curtis Dubay in a report by the Baltimore Sun. Dubay is the senior tax policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Even though nearly half of Americans aren't paying federal income taxes, they are paying payroll taxes-- money that goes towards Social Security and Medicare. They also pay sales tax, local income tax and property taxes.