IRS to Put an End to Its Top 400 Report

shutterstock_245503636

 

Many people believe that the nation’s wealthiest individuals already make too much money without paying their fair share of taxes. Now that billionaire Donald Trump has been elected as our country’s next president, many expect that to only get worse. However, starting next year, it will now be very difficult for anyone to really know how much of a difference Trump’s new tax policies will make to the nation’s top earners.

That’s because the IRS recently announced that it would no longer continue to release its Top 400 Report, which is an annual statistical report of the top 400 taxpayers in the country, according to adjusted gross income. This year’s report, which for now will be the last, showed just how hard the current president’s tax hikes have hit the wealthiest taxpayers over the past several years.

In 2012, the top 400 paid an effective tax rate of 16.72 percent on average adjusted gross income of $226 million. Compare that to 2014 when the same group paid an effective federal tax rate of 23.13 percent on AGI averaging $318 million. If Trump’s tax proposals are put into law then the top 400 are likely to see their effective tax rate go back down again, but now that the IRS will no longer be releasing this report, there is no way to know by exactly how much.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2016/12/01/how-much-will-trump-cut-taxes-for-top-400-well-never-know-as-irs-ends-400-report/#1acdd9db1795

Posted in

First Half of Current Fiscal Year a Record-Breaker for U.S. Treasury

It’s been another record year for the federal government so far, which is in the midst of its current fiscal year. At the end of March, when the government reached its halfway point of the 2016 fiscal year, it had already collected $1.48 trillion. One might think that this massive haul would help ease the…

Why Is Almost Half the Country Paying no Federal Income Tax?

One of the biggest tax debates that will likely always exist is whether or not the nation’s wealthy are paying enough in taxes? It’s easy for some to argue that they don’t but there are many factors that must be considered. Plus, all the while, nearly half of the country’s would-be taxpayers don’t actually pay…

Where Is Your Paycheck Going?

While many of the nation’s high net-worth individuals make much of their income through capital gains, those who still collect a paycheck are doling out of cash to the IRS every time they get paid. The same is true for all taxpayers no matter what income level they fall in. In fact, according to a…

Should the IRS File Your Taxes for You?

Imagine a world where you didn’t have to file your own taxes. Of course, you can use an experienced and professional tax and accounting firm like GROCO to do your taxes for you, but what if you didn’t even have to send your tax return information to an accountant? Could that ever really happen? In…