With a tax deal imminent in the days to come, here are some things worth knowing:

The Tax Rate Fallacy, from Zero Hedge:

“When anyone starts lecturing you that the US has the highest tax rate in the industrialized world, just turn around, walk away, and pretend you never heard of them. This person is either ignorant about this country’s taxation system, or is deliberately trying to deceive or mislead you.

According to a report released by the Internal Revenue Service, America’s tax collection agency, the top 400 individual tax returns filed in 2009 reported an average gross income of $358 million each. The average amount of tax paid by these individuals came to under 17%, less than half the maximum Federal rate of 35%, which kicks in on annual income over $372,950 (click here for the 2009 tax tables at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf ). This explains why Warren Buffet pays a much lower tax rate than his secretary. It really is true that in America, only the poor people pay taxes.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg for a tax code riddled with loopholes, favors, and downright theft.

Listen to David Cay Johnston’s previous conversation on Radio Free Dylan on all the dirty laundry in America’s Tax Code.