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IRS: Statistics of Income Bulletin — Spring 2012
Statistics of Income Bulletin — Spring 2012 (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin is issued quarterly by the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The report provides the earliest published annual financial statistics obtained from the various types of tax and information returns filed, as well as information from periodic or special analytical studies of particular interest to students of the U.S. tax system, tax policymakers, and tax administrators. Selected historical and other data tables, previously published in every issue of the SOI Bulletin, now are published only in the spring issue of the Bulletin. These tables are also available on SOI’s pages of the IRS Web site (www.irs.gov/taxstats).
2011 IRS Data Book
2011 IRS Data Book (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Book is published annually by the Internal Revenue Service and contains statistical tables and organizational information on a fiscal year basis. The report provides data on collecting the revenue, issuing refunds, enforcing the law, assisting the taxpayer, and the budget and workforce.
The IRS Data Book also presents lists of principal officers and the IRS organization chart, which are located at the back of this report.
IRS Creates Online Search Tool for Easier Check on Information About Exempt Organizations
The Internal Revenue Service has launched a new online search tool, Exempt Organizations Select Check, to help users more easily find key information about tax-exempt organizations, such as federal tax status and filings.Users can now go to one location on IRS.gov, select a tax-exempt organization, and check if the organization:Is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions (Publication 78 data, which is incorporated here). Users may rely on this list in determining deductibility of contributions (just as they did when Publication 78 was a separate electronic publication rather than part of EO Select Check).Has had its federal tax exemption automatically revoked under the law for not filing a Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years (known as the Auto-Revocation List).Has filed a Form 990-N (e-Postcard) annual electronic notice. (Most small organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less are required to electronically submit Form 990-N, unless they choose instead to file a completed Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.)EO Select Check also offers improved search functions. For example, users can now look for organizations eligible to receive deductible contributions by Employer Identification Number (EIN), which was previously not a searchable or sortable field in the electronic Publication 78. And data about organizations eligible to receive deductible contributions are now updated monthly, rather than quarterly.In addition, organizations that have automatically lost their tax exemptions may now be searched by EIN, name, city, state, ZIP Code, country, exemption type, and revocation posting date, rather than only by state. EO Select Check also provides new pop-up help text to assist users in understanding the significance of auto-revocation search results, including the meaning of, and distinctions between, revocation dates and revocation posting dates.
SOI Tax Stats – Corporation Source Book: U.S. Total and Sectors Listing
The Corporation Source Book presents balance sheet, income statement, tax, and other selected items by size of total assets for all returns with and without net income. Statistical tables are available by industrial sectors, major groups within a sector, and minor industries within a major group. Industry detail is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The Corporation Source Book, which underlies the Statistics of Income–Corporation Income Tax Returns publication (i.e., the Complete Report), is part of an annual series.The listing below is shown by industrial sector.…Data are available for years 2000—2009.
National Taxpayer Advocate Delivers Annual Report to Congress; Focuses on IRS Funding and Taxpayer Rights
National Taxpayer Advocate Delivers Annual Report to Congress; Focuses on IRS Funding and Taxpayer Rights
Source: Internal Revenue Service
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released her annual report to Congress, identifying the combination of the IRS’s expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, erosion of taxpayer rights, and reduced tax compliance. The Advocate expressed her continuing concern that the IRS’s expanding use of automated processes to adjust tax liabilities is causing harm to taxpayers and recommended that Congress enact a comprehensive Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
+ Executive Summary: 2011 Annual Report to Congress (PDF)
+ Complete Report: 2011 Annual Report to Congress
IRS Offshore Programs Produce $4.4 Billion To Date for Nation’s Taxpayers; Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Reopens
IRS Offshore Programs Produce $4.4 Billion To Date for Nation’s Taxpayers; Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Reopens
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service today reopened the offshore voluntary disclosure program to help people hiding offshore accounts get current with their taxes and announced the collection of more than $4.4 billion so far from the two previous international programs.
The IRS reopened the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) following continued strong interest from taxpayers and tax practitioners after the closure of the 2011 and 2009 programs. The third offshore program comes as the IRS continues working on a wide range of international tax issues and follows ongoing efforts with the Justice Department to pursue criminal prosecution of international tax evasion. This program will be open for an indefinite period until otherwise announced.
…
The program is similar to the 2011 program in many ways, but with a few key differences. Unlike last year, there is no set deadline for people to apply. However, the terms of the program could change at any time going forward. For example, the IRS may increase penalties in the program for all or some taxpayers or defined classes of taxpayers – or decide to end the program entirely at any point.
IRS Releases New Tax Gap Estimates; Compliance Rates Remain Statistically Unchanged From Previous Study
IRS Releases New Tax Gap Estimates; Compliance Rates Remain Statistically Unchanged From Previous Study
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service today released a new set of tax gap estimates for tax year 2006. The tax gap is defined as the amount of tax liability faced by taxpayers that is not paid on time.
The new tax gap estimate represents the first full update of the report in five years, and it shows the nation’s compliance rate is essentially unchanged from the last review covering tax year 2001.
The tax gap statistic is a helpful guide to the scale of tax compliance and to the persisting sources of low compliance, but it is not an adequate guide to year-to-year changes in IRS programs or to year-to-year returns on IRS service and enforcement initiatives.
The following table summarizes the new estimates being released today, as compared to the 2001 estimates, along with the total tax liabilities in each year.
The voluntary compliance rate — the percentage of total tax revenues paid on a timely basis — for tax year 2006 is estimated to be 83.1 percent. The voluntary compliance rate for 2006 is statistically unchanged from the most recent prior estimate of 83.7 percent calculated for tax year 2001.
IRS — Enforcement and Service Results for FY 2011
Enforcement and Service Results for FY 2011 (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Enforcement and Service Results for FY 2011 detail the audit, collection and taxpayer service numbers.
IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Giving
IRS Offers Tips for Year-End GivingSource: Internal Revenue Service
Individuals and businesses making contributions to charity should keep in mind several important tax law provisions that have taken effect in recent years.
IRS Announces 2012 Standard Mileage Rates, Most Rates Are the Same as in July
IRS Announces 2012 Standard Mileage Rates, Most Rates Are the Same as in JulySource: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2012 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2012, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:
- 55.5 cents per mile for business miles driven
- 23 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
- 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
The rate for business miles driven is unchanged from the mid-year adjustment that became effective on July 1, 2011. The medical and moving rate has been reduced by 0.5 cents per mile.
IRS — Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin – Fall 2011
Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin – Fall 2011
Source: Internal Revenue Service:
+ Individual Income Tax Returns, 2009
Taxpayers filed 140.5 million individual income tax returns for Tax Year (TY) 2009, a decrease of 1.4 percent from the 142.5 million returns filed for TY 2008. The adjusted gross income (AGI) less deficit reported on these returns totaled $7.6 trillion, a 7.7-percent decrease from the previous year. This was the second year in a row that AGI has decreased
+ Partnership Returns, 2009
The number of partnerships and partners continued to grow between Tax Years 2008 and 2009. For 2009, the number of partnerships increased 0.7 percent, from 3,146,006 for 2008 to 3,168,728 for 2009. Since 2000, the number of partnerships has increased at an average annual rate of 5.1 percent.
+ Municipal Bonds, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 changed the landscape of the municipal bonds market by introducing direct payment bonds through the Build America Bond and the Recovery Zone Economic Development Bond Programs. More than 900 direct payment bonds raised $65.3 billion in proceeds in 2009.
+ Charities, Social Clubs, and Other Tax-Exempt Organizations, 2008
For 2008, nonprofit charitable organizations (excluding private foundations) tax exempt under IRC Section 501(c)(3) reported $2.5 trillion in total assets and $1.4 trillion in revenue, both decreases from 2007. The number of returns filed by these organizations was 315,184, including 148,821 Forms 990 and 166,363 Forms 990-EZ. There were major changes in both the content of Form 990 and the filing threshold between Tax Years 2007 and 2008.
+ Full Document (PDF)
IRS Advisory Council Issues 2011 Annual Report
IRS Advisory Council Issues 2011 Annual Report
Source: Internal Revenue Service
One of the Internal Revenue Service’s main advisory panels for tax administration today issued its 2011 annual report, covering a range of key issues affecting taxpayers.
The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) issued its report at a public meeting. IRSAC’s primary purpose is to provide an organized public forum for senior IRS executives and representatives of the public to discuss relevant tax administration issues.
“During the past year, IRSAC has tackled many important tax policy and tax administration issues,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “We welcome the committee’s suggestions as we address future challenges.”
Based on its findings, IRSAC made several recommendations on a broad array of issues and concerns including, among other things, the following:
- Remote Work
- Commercial Awareness
- Empower Exam Managers as an Alternative to SBSE Fast Track Settlement Program
- Enhance Worker Classification Compliance with Voluntary Disclosure
- Schedule D (Capital Gains and Losses) Instructions and New Reporting Requirements, Repeater Balance Due Taxpayers
- Refundable Adoption Credit
- Exclusive Authority over Discipline
- Coordination of Administrative Responsibility over Discipline
IRSAC is administered by the National Public Liaison Office. IRSAC draws its members from the tax professional community and members of academia. The Commissioner’s Advisory Group was established in 1953 and renamed IRSAC in 1998 to focus as an advisory body to the entire IRS.
+ Full Report (PDF)
IRS — Interim Guidance on Reimbursement of Employee Personal Cell Phone Usage in light of Notice 2011-72
Interim Guidance on Reimbursement of Employee Personal Cell Phone Usage in light of Notice 2011-72 (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide audit guidance to examiners regarding employers that reimburse their employees for the business use of an employee’s personal cell phone. This document is not intended to be a technical position, but to provide guidance to examiners who encounter this issue.
Notice 2011-72 addresses the tax treatment of employer-provided cell phones for noncompensatory purposes. The Notice provides that, for tax years after December 31, 2009, the IRS will treat the employee’s use of employer-provided cell phones for reasons related to the employer’s trade or business as a working condition fringe benefit, the value of which is excludable from the employee’s income. However, the cell phone must be issued primarily for noncompensatory business reasons. For purposes of determining whether the working condition fringe benefit provision in § 132(d) applies, the substantiation requirements that must be satisfied by the employee for an allowable deduction under § 162 are deemed to be satisfied. Additionally, any personal use of the employer-provided cell phone will be treated as a de minimis fringe benefit, excludable from the employee’s gross income under § 132(e) of the Code.
Sole Proprietorship Returns, 2009
Sole Proprietorship Returns, 2009 (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
For Tax Year 2009, nearly 22.7 million individual income tax returns reported nonfarm sole proprietorship activity, a 0.2-percent increase from 2008. Between Tax Years 2008 and 2009, reported profits for those sole proprietorships declined by 7.4 percent to $244.8 billion. In constant dollars, reported profits decreased for the fourth consecutive year, by 8.3 percent, after decreasing 7.7 percent between 2007 and 2008, 2.0 percent between 2006 and 2007, and 0.2 percent between 2005 and 2006. This was the first time that profits (in constant dollars) have decreased for 4 consecutive years since before 1988.
Proposed Tax Year 2010 Forms and Schedules
Proposed Tax Year 2010 Forms and Schedules
Source: Internal Revenue Service
This document contains the federal tax forms, schedules and information documents that the Statistics of Income (SOI) Division of the IRS has selected for its tax year (TY) 2010 program. Returns for TY 2010 are filed primarily during calendar year 2011, although returns for fiscal-year filers or filers for whom filing extensions have been granted may not be received by the IRS until calendar year 2012. Consequently, summary data for TY 2010 will be made available to the public during calendar years 2012 and 2013.
This publication is organized in three parts:
- Individual Statistics Branch studies include data related to the Form 1040 individual income tax return series, as well as data on sales of capital assets and SOI’s program that connects income tax returns with information documents filed by third parties.
- The Corporation Statistics Branch studies focus on data collected from the Form 1120 series and SOI’s partnership program.
- Special Studies Branch programs include data collected for estate and gift taxes, tax-exempt organizations, and tax-exempt bonds, as well as information collected for international filers.
The specific data items captured for each SOI project are indicated with a red block on facsimiles of the forms and schedules. Forms and schedules that can be filed by different types of taxpayers are repeated in several sections of this document. Specific changes to the data collected for each form and schedule since the TY 2009 studies are summarized at the beginning of each section.
+ Full Report (PDF)
IRS — Estate Tax Statistics
Estate Tax Statistics
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The estate tax is a tax on the transfer of property at death. An estate tax return (Form 706) is filed for the estate of a de- ceased individual whose assets at death, collectively called the “gross estate,” exceed a given level known as the filing threshold. Transfers to a spouse and to charities at death, called bequests, are allowed as deductions for tax computation purposes. Data collected in SOI’s annual estate tax study include the asset holdings of the decedents, deductions taken for charitable and marital bequests, and expenses and debts of the estate.
Since 2001, the filing threshold has gradually increased from $675,000 for 2001 deaths to $3.5 million for 2009 deaths. Under current law, the estate tax is repealed for 2010 deaths but will return with a $1.0 million filing threshold for 2011.
IRS — Charities & Nonprofits — Automatic Revocation of Exemption List
Automatic Revocation of Exemption List
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The IRS has started publishing a list of organizations that have had their federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked for failing to file an annual information return or notice with the IRS for three consecutive years. The Automatic Revocation of Exemption List (Auto-Revocation List) is available in Adobe and Excel formats, and divided into separate lists by jurisdiction. The Auto-Revocation List provides the name, employer identification number (EIN), organization (subsection) code, last known address, effective date of revocation, and date on which the name was posted on IRS.gov.
The chart below categorizes automatically revoked organizations by state. For each state, lists are provided in alphabetical order using Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Excel formats. Below are the steps to view and search the list for Acrobat and Excel…
IRS — 2008 Corporation Complete Report
2008 Corporation Complete Report (PDF)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
From e-mail:
This report presents data tables for corporation income tax returns with accounting periods that ended July 2008 through June 2009. Data have been classified in various ways, including by form type, industry, size of total assets, and size of business receipts.
A separate section of the publication presents data tables for S corporations. Supporting text is also available, including an introduction that highlights changes from the previous year, an explanation of terms, description of the sample, and changes in the law.
IRS Announces New Effort to Help Struggling Taxpayers Get a Fresh Start; Major Changes Made to Lien Process
IRS Announces New Effort to Help Struggling Taxpayers Get a Fresh Start; Major Changes Made to Lien Process
Source: Internal Revenue Service
In its latest effort to help struggling taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service today announced a series of new steps to help people get a fresh start with their tax liabilities.
The goal is to help individuals and small businesses meet their tax obligations, without adding unnecessary burden to taxpayers. Specifically, the IRS is announcing new policies and programs to help taxpayers pay back taxes and avoid tax liens.
“We are making fundamental changes to our lien system and other collection tools that will help taxpayers and give them a fresh start,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “These steps are good for people facing tough times, and they reflect a responsible approach for the tax system.”
Today’s announcement centers on the IRS making important changes to its lien filing practices that will lessen the negative impact on taxpayers. The changes include:
- Significantly increasing the dollar threshold when liens are generally issued, resulting in fewer tax liens.
- Making it easier for taxpayers to obtain lien withdrawals after paying a tax bill.
- Withdrawing liens in most cases where a taxpayer enters into a Direct Debit Installment Agreement.
- Creating easier access to Installment Agreements for more struggling small businesses.
- Expanding a streamlined Offer in Compromise program to cover more taxpayers.
