Tax Policy Center

Fiscal Facts

E.g., 04/06/2020
E.g., 04/06/2020
Federal Excise Tax Composition
Federal excise tax revenues totaled $83.8 billion in 2017. About 63% came from taxes associated with highways and air travel, while another 28% came from taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018
Charitable Deduction by state
About 25% of individual income tax filers claimed a deduction for charitable contributions in 2015. The share was above 33% in three states (CT, MD, NJ) and under 15% in three states (ND, SD, WV). Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this share is expected to be halved.

April 2, 2018

April 2, 2018
Annual Social Insurance and Retirement Receipts
Social Insurance and Retirement Receipts totaled $1.16 trillion in 2017, or 6.8% of GDP. From the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, the ratio was above 7.5% of GDP, bolstered by the 1983 Social Security reforms.

March 26, 2018

March 26, 2018
Top 5 States for Business Income Tax Collections
In 2016, federal business tax collections (almost entirely corporate income taxes) were $345 billion. Nearly half came from businesses in just 6 states (CA, NY, NJ, MN, IL, TX). MN’s share of the total (5.7%) was more than 3 times its share of national retail trade or population.

March 19, 2018

March 19, 2018
State and Local Lottery Revenue
Nine states (NY, CA, FL, TX, MA, GA, PA, MD, IL) had net state and local lottery revenue exceeding $1 billion dollars in 2015. On a per capita basis, RI and DE led the states, both exceeding $300.

March 12, 2018

March 12, 2018
Annual U.S. Debt Held by the Public
The federal debt held by the public was $14.6 trillion in 2017, or about 77% of the GDP. This is more than twice as high as it was in 2001. The highest recorded was about 106% of the GDP in 1946, at the end of World War II.

March 5, 2018

March 5, 2018
Exemptions for Taxpayers and Dependents in 2015
Over 290 million exemptions were claimed in 2015; total exemptions claimed for taxpayers increase with income as married couples have higher incomes, on average; additional exemptions claimed also increase with income as high-income families support more dependents, on average.

February 26, 2018

February 26, 2018
Annual Medical Deductions
About 6% of all filers deducted their medical expenses in 2015. While this itemized deduction has been around since 1942, the threshold for total qualifying expenses has varied. Since 1986, this rate has been at least 7.5% of one's adjusted gross income.

February 19, 2018

February 19, 2018
Elderly and Disabled Credits
The Credit for the Elderly and Disabled primarily benefits households with little retirement income or earnings. It has not been indexed for inflation. Only 51,000 taxpayers claimed it in 2015, about 1/10 as many as 3 decades ago.

February 12, 2018

February 12, 2018
Unemployment Compensation Returns
In 2015, about 4% of individual income tax filers reported receiving unemployment compensation, the lowest share since at least 2000. The average amount reported also declined, from about $8,000 in 2010 to about $4,400 in 2015.

February 5, 2018

February 5, 2018
Itemized Deductions Returns
The share of individual income tax filers itemizing deductions has fluctuated over time. It increased over time and reached a high of 48% in 1970 and was 30% in 2015. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the share is expected to be more than halved.

January 29, 2018

January 29, 2018
Annual Telephone Receipts
Federal telephone excise tax receipts were less than 0.1% of all tax revenues in 2015, down from a high of 1.4% in 1950. The tax rate was fixed at a permanent 3% rate in 1990, but revenues dropped sharply in the mid-2000s after IRS lost a court case on the tax.

January 22, 2018

January 22, 2018
Annual IRA Contribution Deductions
The share of all returns claiming a deduction for IRA contributions was about 1.8% in 2015, the lowest in 30+ years. Following the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act, and before the 1986 Tax Reform Act, this share exceeded 12% between 1982 to 1986.

January 15, 2018

January 15, 2018
Average Dependent Care Tax Credit
The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) has been around since 1976; the average amount claimed on returns for 1976 was $206 (or $857 in 2015 dollars). For 2015, the average amount claimed was $565, or about 34 percent less in real terms.

January 8, 2018

January 8, 2018
EITC Distribution by AGI
In 2015, the largest number of taxpayers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) had incomes between $10,000 and $15,000. The same income group of taxpayers claimed the largest dollar amount of credits.

January 1, 2018

January 1, 2018