Tax Facts for Taxpayers and Young Physicians

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The Tax Foundation

By Children’s Home Society of Florida Foundation

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization, monitors the taxes paid by Americans each year.  On April 11, 2012, they released their report for the past year.  As Americans prepare to file before the April 17 deadline this year, many may be interested in the impact of taxes on their daily lives.

In tax year 2010, the total federal income taxes paid were $945 billion.  143 million families filed tax returns.  85 million paid taxes and 58 million were not required to make tax payments.  The taxpayers with more modest incomes received refundable credits of $105 billion.

The following table shows the income, effective tax rates and percent of the total tax paid by three groups of taxpayers.

Effective Tax Rates and Payments

Income Effective Tax Rate Percent of Taxes Paid
$0 – $50,000 3.5% 6.7%
$50,000 – $250,000 14.1% 47.6%
$250,000+ 23.4% 45.7%

About one-third of taxpayers chose to itemize deductions.  Twenty-five percent of taxpayers deducted mortgage interest and saved approximately $381 billion.  Charitable gifts were reported by 27% of taxpayers.  These gifts produced a tax savings of $158 billion.

The tax code continues to grow in size and complexity.  It now has expanded to 3.8 million words.  For the past decade, there has been an average of one change to the tax code every day.  What is the time required to complete taxes this year?  Over seven billion hours will be devoted to complying with the tax code.

Editor’s Note:  There is great debate on many aspects of tax law.  However, there is a general agreement by Americans from all walks of life that a tax code with 3.8 million words is too long and too complicated.  When Congress turns its efforts toward major tax reform in 2013, it hopefully will be able to reduce the size and complexity.  By working diligently, perhaps Congress might be able to reduce the Internal Revenue Code to only 3.7 million words.

Conclusion

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