Tax Policy Center

Fiscal Facts

E.g., 10/01/2020
E.g., 10/01/2020
Alternative Minimum Tax Returns
The individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) raised about $31 billion from about 4.5 million taxpayers in 2015. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed last year, the AMT was substantially modified, and will apply to only about 200,000 taxpayers in 2018.

September 24, 2018

September 24, 2018
Ownership of Financial Assets by Race
Virtually all families hold some amount of financial assets, broadly defined. However, the median value of holdings for non-Hispanic Whites is 17 times greater than for Hispanics or Latinos, and 13 times greater than for non-Hispanic Blacks or African Americans.

September 17, 2018

September 17, 2018
State Gasoline Tax Rates
State gasoline taxes ranged from 9 to 58 cents per gallon as of January 2018. Three states (California, Pennsylvania, Washington) had taxes exceeding 40 cents per gallon while Alaska had the lowest tax rate at 9 cents per gallon.

September 10, 2018

September 10, 2018
Capital Gains Income Distribution
Income from capital gains largely benefit high-income households. In 2015, for those with adjusted gross income (AGI) over $10 million, 47.3% of their AGI came from capital gains, compared to 0.9% for those with AGI under $100,000.

September 3, 2018

September 3, 2018
State Cigarette Tax Rates
Montana is currently voting on a state cigarette tax rate hike to fund Medicaid expansion. 2018 rates range from Missouri's 17 cents to New York's and Connecticut's $4.35 per pack. The rate is below $1 per pack in 14 states and above $2 per pack in 15 states.

August 27, 2018

August 27, 2018
Bottom 20%'s share of national income
According to the latest CBO estimates of after-tax household income, the share received by the bottom quintile of households was 6.9 percent in 2014, and has fluctuated between 6 and 7 percent for over 30 years.

August 20, 2018

August 20, 2018
State Receipts for Highways and Mass Transit
State motor-fuel tax receipts are used to maintain state-administered highways, mass transit, local roads and streets. From 2005 to 2015, aggregate receipts were nearly flat in inflation-adjusted terms, while the share for mass transit projects grew from 4.3% to 12.3%.

August 13, 2018

August 13, 2018
Nonresident Tax Returns
In 2015, about 872,500 returns (0.6% of all individual income tax returns) were filed by nonresident taxpayers with US-source income and self-employed residents of American territories who pay Social Security taxes. Twenty years earlier, there were 407,200 (0.35% of all returns).

August 6, 2018

August 6, 2018
Mortgage Interest Deduction, by Income
About 22% of all returns, and over 70% of returns with AGI over $200,000 claimed the Mortgage Interest Deduction in 2015. These shares will drop, especially for middle-income households, since the new tax law substantially increases the standard deduction.

July 30, 2018

July 30, 2018
Thirty percent of all returns, and over 90% of returns with AGI over $200,000, claimed the state and local tax (SALT) deduction in 2015. These percentages will drop dramatically because the new tax law increases the standard deduction and caps the SALT deduction.

July 23, 2018

July 23, 2018
Federal Expenditures and Revenues, annually
Federal expenditures in FY2017 totaled almost $4 trillion, or about 21% of GDP. Federal revenues in FY2017 totaled $3.3 trillion, or about 17.3% of GDP. The last time the federal budget was in surplus or balance (FY1998-2001), revenues were around 19-20% of GDP.

July 16, 2018

July 16, 2018
Distribution of Net Estate Tax
The estate tax is part of contentious political debate, especially how it affects small farms and family businesses. In 2015, 67.1% of net estate tax came from estates that exceeded $20 million in value, compared to only about 2% from estates valued under $5 million.

July 9, 2018

July 9, 2018
Airway Trust Fund Annual Receipts
The Airport and Airway Trust Fund, in effect since 1971, is mainly comprised of excise receipts from taxing passenger air fares, air cargo, and aviation fuels. Revenues totaled $15 billion in 2017; but as a share of GDP, have increased only modestly in the last few decades.

July 2, 2018

July 2, 2018
Property Tax Revenue by State
State and local revenue from property taxes totaled $488 billion in 2015. On a per capita basis, DC was the highest with $3,359, followed by NJ with $3,082, and AL was the lowest with $540. Notably, all states in the northeast region collected more than $2,000 per capita.

June 25, 2018

June 25, 2018
Black Lung Disability Trust Fund Annual Receipts
The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund collected $429 million from taxes on coal mine operators and disbursed $183 million to affected miners and families in 2017. But the fund's debt exceeds $4 billion due to interest payments and the coal tax rate is set to decrease in 2019.

June 18, 2018

June 18, 2018