What is a primary source of tax money?
The primary sources of revenue for the U.S. government are individual and corporate taxes, and taxes that are dedicated to funding Social Security and Medicare.
The federal government collects revenue from a variety of sources, including individual income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, and excise taxes. It also collects revenue from services like admission to national parks and customs duties. In -12, the federal government collected $.
Federal tax research involves a large variety of primary sources of law: the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations, case law, and several types of agency guidance published by the Internal Revenue Service.
California's state and local governments rely on three main taxes. The personal income tax is the state's main revenue source, the property tax is the major local tax, and the state and local governments both receive revenue from the sales and use tax.
| Category | Percentage of Expenditures |
|---|---|
| Health | 14% |
| Medicare | 10% |
| Income Security | 8% |
| Commerce and Housing Credit | 6% |
Sources of Federal Revenues
Individual income taxes are the largest single source of federal revenues, constituting nearly one-half of all receipts.
The top 10%, with incomes of at least $169,800, pay about three-quarters of the nation's tax bill, the analysis found. Although most Americans believe the middle class bears the heaviest tax burden, it's actually the top 1% who pay the highest federal tax rate, at 25.9%, the Tax Foundation analysis found.
In general, a tax authority can be classified as either a "primary" or "secondary" authority. Primary authority comes from statutory, administrative, and judicial sources. Secondary authority consists of unofficial sources of tax information such as tax services, journals, textbooks, and newsletters.
Types of Primary Sources
Public Records - census records, court records, wills, tax records, etc.
Statutes and legislation are a primary source of federal tax law. Commentary on federal tax law is considered a secondary source. Secondary sources can be used to learn about a law, find the primary source of a law, or locate persuasive authority.
What is tax money?
Required payments of money to governments that are used to provide public goods and services for the benefit of the community as a whole.
The rest includes investing in education; investing in basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and airports; maintaining natural resources, farms, and the environment; investing in scientific and medical research; enforcing the nation's laws to promote justice; and other basic duties of the federal government.
| State federal district or territory | Gross collections (thousands of dollars) |
|---|---|
| California | 472,027,235 |
| Colorado | 59,961,429 |
| Connecticut | 57,092,781 |
| Delaware | 20,073,979 |
Who Does Not Have to Pay Taxes? Generally, you don't have to pay taxes if your income is less than the standard deduction, you have a certain number of dependents, working abroad and are below the required thresholds, or are a qualifying non-profit organization.
Nearly half of mandatory spending in 2022 was for Social Security and other income support programs such as the Child Tax Credit, food and nutrition assistance, and federal employee benefits (figure 3). Most of the remainder paid for the two major government health programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
The top income tax rate reached above 90% from 1944 through 1963, peaking in 1944, when top taxpayers paid an income tax rate of 94% on their taxable income. Starting in 1964, a period of income tax rate decline began, ending in 1987.
Governments generate revenue by collecting income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and social insurance taxes. Revenue is also generated from income on assets and transfer receipts from businesses and individuals.
Combining direct and indirect taxes, as well as taxes from state and local government, the average American family paid $17,902 in taxes in 2021.
One way tax-free countries can make money is with customs and import duties. By imposing tariffs (which are often very hefty) on imported goods, they're able to supplement the income they would otherwise have gotten from taxing their citizens and the companies that do business within their borders.
While giant companies enjoyed record profits in recent years, many still pay lower tax rates than most working families. That's in part because many take advantage of generous tax breaks and stash profits in tax havens around the world.
Do the poor pay more taxes than the rich?
The average federal income tax rate was 13.6% in 2020, according to a January analysis from the Tax Foundation. But the top 1% of earners paid an average rate of about 26%, while the bottom half of taxpayers had an overall rate of 3.1%, the analysis found.
In contrast to the 99% who earn most of their income from wages and salaries, the top 1% earn most of their income from investments. From work, they may receive deferred compensation, stock or stock options, and other benefits that aren't taxable right away.
There are many kinds of primary sources including texts (letters, diaries, government reports, newspaper accounts, novels, autobiographies), images (photographs, paintings, advertisem*nts, posters), artifacts (buildings, clothing, sculpture, coins) and audio/visual (songs, oral history interviews, films).
Proposed regulations do not carry the legal authority of final regulations, rulings, or court decisions and thus cannot be considered primary sources.
Form 1040 can be used by most all taxpayers regardless of their tax filing status or income level. Form 1040-SR provides an optional alternative to Form 1040 for taxpayers that who are age 65 or older and uses the same schedules and instructions as Form 1040.
