Tax Policy Center

Fiscal Facts

E.g., 10/01/2022
E.g., 10/01/2022
Just 0.18% of deaths triggered estate tax liabilities in 2013, down from a 1976 peak of 7.65%; this reflects larger estate tax exemptions.

July 10, 2017

July 10, 2017
IRS collections in just 5 states -- California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas -- totaled $1.3 trillion in 2016, 39% of the US total.

July 3, 2017

July 3, 2017
In 2017, workers owe no Social Security tax on earnings above $127,200, up from $3,000 in 1950.

June 26, 2017

June 26, 2017
In 2017, taxpayers with 3 or more children can receive a maximum EITC of $6,318. Maximum EITC for those without children is $510.

June 19, 2017

June 19, 2017
In 2017, state taxes on a pack of cigarettes range from 17 cents in Missouri to $4.35 in New York. Median tax: $1.53.

June 12, 2017

June 12, 2017
State and local taxes averaged 10.1% of residents’ personal income in 2014. N. Dakota raised the most due to oil and gas extraction taxes.

June 5, 2017

June 5, 2017
In 2016, 25 states and the District of Columbia had a state-level EITC and 23 of these set it at a fixed percentage of the federal EITC.

May 29, 2017

May 29, 2017
In 2017, state sales tax rates ranged from 2.9 percent in Colorado to 7.25 percent in California.

May 22, 2017

May 22, 2017
The IRS estimates that 86 percent of taxpayers filed their federal individual income tax returns electronically in 2016, up from 66 percent in 2009.

May 16, 2017

May 16, 2017
Alaska collected more than $15,000 per person in own-source revenue in 2014, more than twice the national average.

May 8, 2017

May 8, 2017
About 49% of state motor fuel tax receipts went to state-administered highways in 2014; 29% went to local roads and streets.

April 24, 2017

April 24, 2017
In 2014, around 70 percent of taxpayers faced marginal tax rates of 15 percent or lower.

April 17, 2017

April 17, 2017
In 1970 the original minimum tax collected $122 million from just 19,000 taxpayers; in 2016, 4.7 million taxpayers will pay AMT.

April 10, 2017

April 10, 2017
Half of all families had retirement accounts in 2013.

April 3, 2017

April 3, 2017
Estate tax returns filed in 2015 reported an average gross estate value exceeding $14 million.

March 27, 2017

March 27, 2017