The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was claimed on 17% of total individual income tax returns for tax year 2018. The share ranged from 10% in New Hampshire to 30% in Mississippi.
December 21, 2020
December 21, 2020
After-tax income inequality has grown over time. Between 1979 and 2017, the share of aggregate after-tax income going to the top 1% of households grew from 7.4% to 13.5%. The shares for the bottom 90 percent of households declined.
December 14, 2020
December 14, 2020
The federal government spent $676 billion on national defense in FY 2019, or about 15% of total federal expenditures, compared to nearly 50% in the 1960s. Over time, a larger share of spending has been towards Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
December 7, 2020
December 7, 2020
Income from capital gains made up about 8% of aggregate adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2018, but this varied by income level. For those with AGI over $10 million, capital gains accounted for nearly half of their income.
November 30, 2020
November 30, 2020
Overall, the share of US families with education loan debt went from 9% in 1989 to 21% in 2019. About 30% of Black families had education loan debt in 2019, compared with 20% of White families and 14% of Latino families.
November 23, 2020
November 23, 2020
41 states and DC have broad-based individual income taxes. Top marginal tax rates range from 2.9% in North Dakota to 13.3% in California. Arizona voters just approved a ballot initiative to increase their top rate from 4.5% to 8.0%.
November 16, 2020
November 16, 2020
Two states (Colorado and Oregon) had ballot initiatives to significantly increase excise tax rates on cigarette and tobacco products. Voters in both states approved the tax increases and also approved taxing e-cigarettes.
November 9, 2020
November 9, 2020
Nine states have a flat single income tax rate, and two have ballot measures that could change their tax. Colorado proposes cutting the flat rate from 4.63% to 4.55%; Illinois would institute a progressive rate system with a top rate of 7.99%.
November 2, 2020
November 2, 2020
Virtually all families hold some amount of financial assets, broadly defined. While 98% of families held checking or savings accounts in 2019, only 50% of families held retirement accounts and 15% owned stocks.
October 26, 2020
October 26, 2020
Racial disparities in wealth have persisted over time. New Federal Reserve data show that in 2019, the median net worth of White families was 5 to 8 times greater than for Latino families and Black families.
October 19, 2020
October 19, 2020
In 2019, the IRS audited 0.45% of all individual income tax returns filed. This was the lowest individual audit rate in at least 20 years.
October 12, 2020
October 12, 2020
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act caused the share of taxpayers claiming the SALT deduction to drop by nearly two-thirds between 2017 and 2018. For those with AGI over $200,000, the share dropped from 93% to 54%.
October 5, 2020
October 5, 2020
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expanded the Child Tax Credit and extended its benefits to higher-income taxpayers. For those with AGI over $100,000, benefits as a share of AGI increased five-fold from 0.1% to 0.5% between 2017 and 2018.
September 28, 2020
September 28, 2020
For tax year 2018, the share of tax returns itemizing deductions fell across all income groups due to passage of TCJA. 52% of those with income over $200,000 itemized for 2018, significantly less than the 93% itemizing for 2017.
September 21, 2020
September 21, 2020
Between 2017 and 2018, the share of individual income tax returns claiming itemized deductions declined from 31% to 11%, primarily due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted in 2017.
