Tag: Erica York

Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2022 Update

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2022-update?mc_cid=aeb8f14671&mc_eid=4737d05e09

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Excerpt:

In 2019, taxpayers filed 148.3 million tax returns, reported earning nearly $11.9 trillion in adjusted gross income, and paid $1.6 trillion in individual income taxes.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.6 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.5 percent).

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell to 20.1 percent from 20.9 percent in 2018. The top 1 percent’s share of federal individual income taxes paid fell to 38.8 percent from 40.1 percent.

The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 3 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (38.8 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (29.2 percent).

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced average tax rates across income groups.

Author(s): Erica York

Publication Date: 19 Jan 2022

Publication Site: Tax Foundation

The American Rescue Plan Act Greatly Expands Benefits through the Tax Code in 2021

Mary Pat Campbell
The American Rescue Plan Act Greatly Expands Benefits through the Tax Code in 2021

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Excerpt:

The United States has provided about $6 trillion in total economic relief to the American people during the coronavirus pandemic, including the $1.9 trillion that was approved when President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act into law on Thursday, amounting to about 27 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).  Much of the economic relief in the American Rescue Plan is administered through the tax code in the form of direct payments (stimulus checks) and expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) in 2021. The size and method of relief will revive debates over the proper role of spending in the tax code and whether the temporary benefits should become permanent after the economy has recovered.

Policymakers will need to determine if the tax code is the proper vehicle to disburse such cash benefits and if the IRS can handle the additional responsibilities. Over the course of many years, the IRS has been tasked with an ever-growing list of administrative duties that go well beyond simple revenue collection—everything from poverty alleviation to education, housing, and health-care benefits. The American Rescue Plan, in addition to other pandemic response measures, would now require the IRS to administer additional benefits on a recurring monthly basis, much as a traditional spending agency, all while processing upwards of 160 million tax returns.

Author(s): Erica York, Garrett Watson

Publication Date: 12 March 2021

Publication Site: Tax Foundation