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 nation’s federal deficit. However, despite the record intake, the federal government still finds itself in the hole to the tune of $461 billion.
According to the U.S. treasury Department, the amount of taxes it has collected from October 2015 through March of this year has been greater than any other previous fiscal year on record. That even takes adjustment for inflation into consideration.
The Treasury Department counts revenues from several sources, including individual income taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, social insurance and retirement taxes, estate and gift taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes and a few other items. Of the $1.48 trillion collected so far this fiscal year, the majority comes from individual income taxes, which accounts for nearly half of the total, at $675 billion.
By way of comparison, last year, the federal government collected a total of $3.24 trillion in taxes for the entire 2015 fiscal year.
Asset Transfer Checklist
Asset Transfer Checklist Planning for the distribution of a lifetime of accumulated wealth can be complicated. The process involves drafting and regularly updating your will and making the necessary trust arrangements. It requires understanding exactly what you own and how to transfer what you own (and in what manner) to family members or other beneficiaries.…
Fashioning a Charitable Gift: Creative Ways of Giving
Fashioning a Charitable Gift: Creative Ways of Giving The idea of “planning” a gift to charity may not spring as readily to mind as investment or retirement planning. Yet there are many ways to give, and many kinds of gifts to consider, especially when your philanthropic impulse is strong. Initial steps Of course, the very…
Durable Power of Attorney: Manage with Care
Durable Power of Attorney: Manage with Care With over 35 million people age 65 and older, more and more families are grappling with the needs of their elderly parents. Care-giving arrangements may be necessary, involving some difficult choices and emotional upheaval. For children with parents of substantial means, there may be concerns that extend beyond…
Gifts to Grandchildren: Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax
Gifts to Grandchildren: Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax The federal government currently imposes three distinct taxes on the transfer of wealth. The first two limit the total amount of assets that a person can pass tax free to others in life or at death. The gift tax and/or the estate tax take a substantial portion of all…