Tax Data, Charts, and Maps
Nonpayers
During 2007, Tax Foundation economists estimate that roughly 46.6 million tax returns faced a zero or negative tax liability. These are the so-called non-payers, people whose exemptions, deductions and credits wiped out any tax that would have been due. As a result, every dollar that was withheld from their paychecks during the year was refunded. In about half the cases, substantial additional money was "refunded" to the tax filer, although that portion is classified as a government expenditure since it is actually welfare spending, not a tax refund.
Almost a third of all tax returns, 32.6 percent of 143 million federal tax returns filed, were nonpaying in 2007, the most recent year for which IRS data is final. The percentage for 2007 is the second highest, a slight tick down from the all-time highest in 2006, when 33.0 percent of tax filers paid nothing.
Note: 2007 is currently the latest year for which IRS data on this topic is available.
Tax Data from The Tax Foundation
- Summary of 2009 Federal Individual Income Tax Data, October 24, 2011
- Federal Individual Income Tax Returns with Zero or Negative Tax Liability, 1950 - 2009, October 18, 2011
- Topline Results for Tax Foundation's 2009 Survey of U.S. Attitudes on Taxes, Government Spending and Wealth Distribution, April 8, 2009
- Number of Paying and Non-Paying Tax Returns by Type of Return, 2005, June 2, 2008
Charts
- Chart: Marginal Tax Rates on a Family of Five, June 2, 2011