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Individual Income and Payroll Taxes

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more business income is reported on individual tax returns than corporate returns, pass-through business income, business tax returns, corporate tax returns

Corporate and Pass-through Business Income and Returns Since 1980

More business income is reported on individual tax returns than corporate returns. The U.S. now has fewer corporations and more individually owned businesses. Corporations make up less than 5 percent of businesses but earn 60 percent of revenues.

3 min read
Elizabeth Warren real corporate profits tax, Senator warren real corporate profits tax, elizabeth warren corporate tax proposal, Senator warren corporate tax proposal

An Analysis of Senator Warren’s ‘Real Corporate Profits Tax’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a 7 percent surtax on corporate profits called the “Real Corporate Profits Tax.” We estimate that this tax would reduce the incentive to invest in the United States, and result in a 1.9 percent smaller economy, a 3.3 percent smaller capital stock, and 1.5 percent lower wages. The surtax would raise $872 billion between 2020 and 2029 on a conventional basis and $476 billion on a dynamic basis. The tax would make the tax code more progressive, but it would fall on taxpayers in every income group.

9 min read
American independence, which we celebrate this week, was born of a tax revolt. See more on "No Taxation without Representation" Fourth of July tax revolt.

Tax Freedom Day 2019 is April 16th

Tax Freedom Day represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden. In 2019, Americans will pay $3.4 trillion in federal taxes and $1.8 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of over $5.2 trillion, or 29 percent of the nation’s income.

5 min read
Gross income definition or gross pay definition TaxEDU Labor Share of Net Income is Within Its Historical Range President Biden Made in America Tax Plan and American Jobs Plan

The Alternative Minimum Tax Still Burdens Taxpayers with Compliance Costs

Although Congress intended the AMT to be a tax on wealthy taxpayers, for much of its history it has subjected middle-income taxpayers in high-tax states to heavy compliance burdens. TCJA reforms that have increased the AMT’s exemption and exemption phaseout threshold will shield some taxpayers from the AMT through 2025, but the number of taxpayers impacted will increase in 2026 when the TCJA’s individual income tax reforms expire.

14 min read
entrepreneurship, tax policy and entrepreneurship, entrepreneur taxes

Tax Policy and Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Analysis

A key element of America’s dynamism problem is a drop in entrepreneurship. Removing tax barriers for entrepreneurs would improve America’s dynamism while making America’s tax code more neutral, efficient, and simple for all taxpayers.

25 min read
the payroll tax is regressive, while the income tax is progressive

New Report Shows the Burdens of Payroll and Income Taxes

The tax burden for most Americans in 2019 –67.8 percent—will come primarily from payroll taxes, not income taxes. While the income tax is progressive, with average rates rising with income, the payroll tax is regressive, with the highest average rate falling on Americans with the lowest incomes.

3 min read
Income changes over the course of an individual's life, average incomes rise with age, average income age income inequality

Average Income Tends to Rise with Age

Average income tends to rise dramatically as someone ages and gains education and experience. Viewing just one year of income tax data without digging any deeper misses some crucial context.

2 min read