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State and Local Tax Deduction by AGI

About 30% of all individual income tax returns claimed the SALT deduction in 2016, and over 93% of returns with AGI over $200,000. The 2017 tax law changes will sharply reduce both the share of returns claiming the deduction and the amount of the deduction claimed.

July 22, 2019

Mortgage Interest Deduction, by State

About 22% of individual income taxpayers claimed a deduction for mortgage interest paid in 2016. The share claiming this deduction ranges from 12% in South Dakota to 33% in Maryland. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will significantly reduce these figures.

July 15, 2019

Income from Partnerships and S Corporations

In 2016, income from partnerships and S corporations, a form of "pass-through" income, totaled 27% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for those with AGI over $1 million, compared to 1% for those with AGI under $100,000.

July 8, 2019

Child and Dependent Care Credit over time

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) subsidizes care expenses primarily for working parents. The aggregate amount of credit claimed was $3.6 billion in 2016, having remained fairly stable (in real terms) since the early 1990s.

July 1, 2019

Share of After-Tax Income Comparison

Between 1979 and 2015, the share of total after-tax income that goes to the 20 percent of households with the highest incomes grew from 42% to 48%, while the shares of all other income groups declined.

June 24, 2019

State Gasoline Tax Rates

Illinois' state gasoline tax is set to double to nearly 40 cents per gallon starting July 1, 2019. Currently, four states (CA, NJ, PA, and WA) have gas taxes exceeding 40 cents per gallon, while Alaska has the lowest tax at 9 cents per gallon.

June 17, 2019

Charitable Deduction by state

About 25% of individual income tax filers claimed a deduction for charitable contributions in 2016. The share claiming this deduction ranges from 12% in West Virginia to 39% in Maryland. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will significantly reduce these.

June 10, 2019

Itemized Deductions Returns and Amount

In 2016, 30 percent of individual income tax returns itemized their deductions, but these returns were responsible for almost 60 percent of the total amount deducted. Under the 2017 tax law changes, these shares are expected to be significantly smaller.

June 3, 2019

Deduction for Medical Expenses annually

About 6% of income tax filers in 2016 claimed an itemized deduction for medical expenses. The share claiming a deduction and the threshold for deducting expenses have both varied over the decades. The 2017 tax law lowered the threshold from 10% to 7.5% of AGI for 2017 and 2018.

May 27, 2019

Income from Interest and Dividends by AGI

Interest and dividends are a large portion of income for high-income households, but not for others. In 2016, interest and dividends were more than 20% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for those with AGI over $10 million, compared to less than 3% for those with AGI under $100,000.

May 20, 2019

Mean Value of Financial Assets held by Families by Education

Between 1989 and 2016, the mean inflation-adjusted value of financial assets for those with a college degree more than doubled, while everyone else's remained fairly constant.

May 13, 2019

Total Amount of EITC Claimed Annually

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was established in 1975. The total amount of credit claimed in 1975 was $1.2 billion (or $5.6 billion in 2016 dollars). In 2016, the total was $66.7 billion, almost 12 times larger in real terms.

May 6, 2019

Annual Number of Returns Claiming IRA Contribution Deduction

About 1.8% of all individual income tax returns claimed a deduction for IRA contributions in 2016. Following the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, this share exceeded 12%, until deductible IRAs were curtailed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

April 29, 2019

Income from Salary and Wages by AGI

Wages and salaries are the largest source of adjusted gross income (AGI) for most taxpayers. In 2016, they comprised over 70 percent of AGI for all individual taxpayers, but just 18 percent for those with AGI over $10 million.

April 22, 2019

Average Annual Elderly and Disabled Credits

Take up of the Credit for the Elderly and Disabled has declined since neither the credit amount nor the income limits have been adjusted for inflation in 35 years. It was claimed by 1 million taxpayers in 1976, 60,000 in 2016, and fewer claimants are expected in coming years.

April 15, 2019