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.
Federal Government Looking for Ways to Get to Retirement Funds
Just when you thought your retirement account was safe from the federal government, think again. That’s’ because according to the Government Accountability Office, there are around 9,000 U.S. taxpayers who have a minimum of $5 million in an individual retirement account. Now some lawmakers are taking a closer look at these accounts because as Senate…
An Artistic Way to Pay Your Taxes
Many wealthy individuals enjoy collecting things, including artwork. While artwork can be a source of income for some, as well as solely a collectible for others, it can’t be used it to pay your taxes. Well, at least not in the United States, anyways. However, there are some countries in which artwork is a completely…
Life Is Not Fair – Neither Is Every State Tax System
Life Is Not Fair – Neither Is Every State Tax System We all know that life isn’t fair, and that means that many specific aspects of life aren’t fair either. Of course, according to most people taxes always fall into the unfair category as well. So just how fair or unfair are your taxes? No,…
When Is the Best Time to Exercise Those Stock Options?
We hear about stock options all the time in the news. It seems like anytime a big company is involved in some sort of financial transaction the term “stock options” is thrown around at some point. First off, stock options are an option given to a person, usually an employee, to purchase stock in a…