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A GOOD TIME TO BE RICH….Here’s the latest 2006 income data for the Fortunate 400:

The nation’s top 400 taxpayers made more than $263 million on average in 2006, as the stock market was rallying, but paid income taxes at the lowest rate in the 15 years that the Internal Revenue Service has tracked such data, according to figures released Thursday.

….In constant dollars, the average income of the top 400 taxpayers nearly quadrupled from 1992….Meanwhile, the group’s average income tax rate [] fell to 17.2% in 2006 from 18.2% the prior year. That’s down from a high of 29.9% in 1995.

Just for the record, my federal income tax rate is higher than 17.2%. And yours, probably. So maybe the quarter billionaire crowd can afford a wee bit more too?

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