The federal government collected revenues of $4.9 trillion in 2022—equal to 19.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) (figure 2). Over the past 50 years, federal revenue has averaged 17.4 percent ...

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Before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) primarily affected well-off households, but not those with the very highest incomes. It was also more likely ...

TPC estimates that just over 7,100 estate tax returns will be filed for people who die in 2023, of which only about 4,000 will be taxable—less than 0.2 percent of the 2.8 million people expected to ...

Tax expenditures make up a substantial part of the federal budget. Some of them are larger than the entire budgets of the programs or departments that spend money for the same or related purposes. For ...

Capital gains are profits from the sale of a capital asset, such as shares of stock, a business, a parcel of land, or a work of art. Capital gains are generally included in taxable income, but in most ...

Tax expenditures for retirement savings are very large. They were over $300 billion in 2022 and will likely exceed $2 trillion over the 2022-2026 period. Tax expenditures are revenue losses ...

Rainy day funds, also known as budget stabilization funds, allow states to set aside surplus revenue for use during unexpected deficits. Every state has some type of rainy day fund, though deposit and ...

The difference is whether heirs who sell an inherited asset will pay tax on the capital gains from the time the asset was originally purchased or from the time it was inherited. The difference in tax ...

The earned income tax credit subsidizes low-income working families. The credit equals a fixed percentage of earnings from the first dollar of earnings until the credit reaches its maximum. The ...

Workers, owners of capital, and households that consume a disproportionate amount of taxed items all bear the burden of federal excise taxes. Excise taxes create a wedge between the price the final ...

Taxpayers who itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns can deduct state and local taxes--specifically property taxes plus either income taxes or general sales taxes. However, the Tax ...