US – 28 percent of these rich households with jobs in 2012 and with average income of $31.4 million got no paycheck in 2013

A very curious thing happened in 2013, when Congress raised the tax rates on top earners, from the 35 percent rate set under George W. Bush back to the Bill Clinton–era rate of 39.6 percent.

More than 4,000 households that in 2012 enjoyed salaries averaging $6.5 million each stopped collecting paychecks, my analysis of IRS data released Wednesday shows.

That means 28 percent of these rich households with jobs in 2012 and with average income from all sources of $31.4 million got no paycheck in 2013. By arranging to take bonuses and other pay before the tax hike took effect, these 4,008 households saved almost $1.3 billion in taxes in 2013.

Among all households with income of $1 million or more, the number reporting any salary fell by almost 35,000, or 11 percent.

This ability to earn a huge paycheck one year and none the next illustrates how Congress sets tax rules that favor the richest Americans. The vast majority of people have taxes deducted from their paychecks and retirement income and must pay whatever rates Congress sets before collecting their money. Meanwhile, many of the richest can decide when and how to take income, in order to pay the least legally allowed. As we will see, in some cases, they pay nothing.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at : Vanished: 4,000 Jobs Paying $6.5 Million | Al Jazeera America