May 28, 2008
One of the inquiring public's most frequently asked tax questions is how many people in the entire country file a tax return. A common related question is how many people aren't obliged to pay any income tax when they file a tax return. We take our answers straight from the IRS, and here they are for 2005.
Four Types of Tax Returns | |||||||
Single People |
| Couples | |||||
| All | Individual | Head of | Joint | Filing | ||
Returns | Returns | Household | Return | Separately | |||
| Total Returns | 134,372,678 |
| 59,347,974 | 19,985,059 |
| 52,505,729 | 2,462,804 |
| Paying Returns | 90,593,079 |
| 41,900,154 | 6,572,893 |
| 40,081,458 | 2,004,781 |
| Non-paying Returns | 43,779,599 |
| 17,447,820 | 13,412,166 |
| 12,424,271 | 458,023 |
| Fraction of Returns Non-paying | 32.58% | 29.40% | 67.11% | 23.66% | 18.60% | ||