Fiscal Facts | Tax Policy Center

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State minimum wage rates

The minimum cash wage for most tipped employees is equal to the federal rate of $2.13 an hour in 16 states, higher than $2.13 but lower than their own state minimum wage in 27 states and DC, and equal to their state minimum wage in 7 states.

September 6, 2021

September 6, 2021

Reliance on state and local general charges

General charges, or payments for specific government services such as hospital fees, state university tuition, and parking meters, totaled $548 billion in 2018. Over time, these have grown from 14% of own-source state and local general revenue in 1978 to 21% in 2018.

August 30, 2021

August 30, 2021

Highway Trust Fund's excise tax receipts over time

Taxes on motor fuels are the biggest revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund, but those tax rates have not changed since 1993. In recent years, transfers from the General Fund have been necessary to support trust fund spending.

August 23, 2021

August 23, 2021

Individual income tax revenue by state

Individual income taxes comprised 17% of own-source state and local general revenue (excluding federal transfers) in 2018. This share was over 25% n CT, MA, MD, NY, and OR. Nine states do not have a broad-based individual income tax.

August 16, 2021

August 16, 2021

Homeownership rates by educational attainment

In 2019, the homeownership rate across all US households was 65%. For those with college degrees, the homeownership rate was 75%, compared to 51% for those with no high school diplomas.

August 9, 2021

Deduction for charitable contributions by AGI

In 2018, deductions for charitable contributions were 4.8% of AGI for taxpayers with AGI over $1 million, compared to 1.7% for all taxpayers. In part, this is because 77% of those taxpayers were itemizers, compared with 11% of all taxpayers.

August 2, 2021

Federal excise tax rate on gasoline over time

The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, and has not increased since 1993, unlike most state tax rates. If the federal tax rate was adjusted for inflation since 1993, it would be 34 cents per gallon in 2021.

July 26, 2021

Breakdown of IRS expenditures

The IRS spent $12.3 billion in fiscal year 2020. 39% of its budget went towards enforcement activities, 36% on operations support, 22% on taxpayer services, and 2% on business systems modernization.

July 19, 2021

Top income tax expenditures

According to Treasury estimates, the six largest income tax expenditures will each cost over $100 billion in fiscal year 2021, and include stimulus payments and benefits for health care, retirement, housing, capital gains, and families with children.

July 12, 2021

IRS workforce over time

In FY 2020, the IRS had around 75,800 full-time-equivalent employees. This workforce was larger than in 2018 and 2019, but still significantly smaller than what it was in the 1990s.

July 5, 2021

Presidential Election Campaign Fund checkoff

In 2020, the share of filers who check the box for the Presidential Election Campaign Fund on their tax returns was the lowest it has ever been, at 3.6 percent. Comparatively, in 1976, this share was about 28 percent.

June 28, 2021

Income from salary and wages by income level

Salaries and wages are the largest sources of income for most households. In 2018, they comprised 68% of total adjusted gross income across all individual income tax returns, but only 17% for those with incomes over $10 million.

June 21, 2021

Composition of federal revenues

In 2020, 47% of federal revenue came from individual income taxes and 38% from payroll taxes. Over time, the shares from corporate income taxes and excise taxes have declined.

June 14, 2021

Lottery revenue by state

State and local governments raised over $27 billion from net lottery revenue in 2018. Only Delaware, Rhode Island, and West Virginia raised over 2% of their general revenue from lotteries, while six states did not have any lotteries in 2018.

June 7, 2021

In 2019, five states (CT, MD, IL, NY, PA) and DC spent over 25% of their state motor fuel tax revenue on mass transit. Overall, 10% of revenue went towards mass transit, 27% for local roads, 51% for state highways, and 12% for other spending.

May 31, 2021