10 Fascinating Facts About Tax Preparation That Will Actually Blow Your Mind
Amount of income, number of deductions, total receipts, amount of times you banged your head on the table: April is the month of figures.
If the amount of money in your bank account and number on your tax return are making you crazy, take a break, take a breath and distract yourself with some of these numbers from the IRS.
1. You’re not just one in a million, you’re one in over 141 million. That’s how many individual income tax returns were submitted for 2010.
2. Are you filling out a standard deduction? Then you’re in the majority, as only 32.5 percent of people claim an itemized deduction, while 65.7 percent use the standard deductions.
3. Technophobia or technofilia? For tax year 2010, the vast majority of tax returns were e-filed — 81.2 percent, to be exact.
4. For the 2009 tax year, a slight majority of people decided not to go it alone. A total of 57.3 percent filed their taxes with a paid preparer.
5. Adjusted Gross Income is an indvidual’s total gross income, minus specific deductions, such as business expenses and alimony to name a few. In the 2009 tax year, the median AGI was $32,393.
6. Want to be among the rich, if not the famous? Move to California. According to the 2009 tax year stats, the Golden State had the most individuals claiming an Adjusted Gross Income of $1 million or more.
7. Of the 241,528 tax returns claiming an AGI of over $1 million, Vermont is the state with the fewest, claiming only 276 millionaires.
8. Planning your next vacation? Your tax refund might help. For the 2009 tax year, the average refund per individual return was $3,336.
9. In 2010, the IRS collected $1.1 trillion in individual income taxes and $278 billion in corporate income taxes.
10. In person, on the phone, and through emails and letters, the IRS assisted a staggering 78.1 million people with their 2010 taxes.
[IRS]