When I was just out of college and had my first job that didn’t involve sweating or the prospect of coming home with a torn, bloody shirt, I told myself that I would never complain about paying taxes. “If I’m paying taxes, I’m making money.” At the time, I didn’t have much experience with either.

I also didn’t have much understanding of our federal income tax system. I’ve since changed my mind.

Contrary to the memes and political grandstanding, the data is clear: by every objective metric, the highest taxes are paid by the highest earners.

Based on most recently available complete data (tax year 2022), the top 1% of income earners paid an average tax rate of 26.1%, the highest among all income groups. This top 1% earned 22% of the total income of all taxpayers, yet paid roughly 40% of all federal income taxes.

For comparison, in 2002, the top 1% of wage earners paid 34% of all federal income taxes. Their share of the tax burden actually increased over the past two decades.

One thing that has remained relatively constant over those 20 years is that the bottom 50% of income earners collectively pay very little federal income tax – about 3% of their income. Remember that the next time Bernie Sanders drones on about billionaires lower tax rates than secretaries. In the aggregate, it simply isn’t true.

Average tax rates rise sharply with income; our tax system is markedly objectively progressive, regardless of what your social media feeds suggests. But is it fair? In the same way that one man’s tax loophole is another man’s deserved tax break, fairness is subjective.

Depending on the year, between 30% and 40% of all households pay zero federal income tax. (The Tax Policy Center estimates the figure will be 40% this year.) For these people, “income taxes” are something they receive each April, not something they pay.

But this does not mean they pay no taxes. Most workers pay 7.65% of their wages in payroll taxes (FICA) to fund Social Security and Medicare. These taxes are withheld from paychecks and are generally not refunded even for households that own no federal income tax.

Tax rates are important, but more important is the calculation of taxable income. I would happily pay a tax rate of 90% as long as I got to define “taxable income.” For the relatively small number of taxpayers who still navigate the web of deductions, credits, loss carryforwards, and adjustments, the real question isn’t the tax rate; it’s about how much of their income gets classified as something else.

David Moon is president of Moon Capital Management. A version of this piece originally appeared in the USA TODAY NETWORK.