Welcome to the wild world of U.S. tax facts – a place where numbers do somersaults and dollars dance! Think of this page as your very own financial funhouse, where we uncover the weirdest, most wonderful tidbits about paying taxes in America. Ever wondered why we fill out all those forms every year, or what your tax dollars actually do? You’re in the right spot. We’ve got stories about tax laws that’ll make you scratch your head, and facts so strange you’ll want to tell all your friends.
But hey, we’re not the only ones with crazy tax tales to tell. This is your chance to jump into the mix! Found a tax fact that made you laugh out loud or say “huh?” Maybe you’ve got a story about trying to save a few bucks on your taxes (all legal, of course). We want to hear it! This is your invitation to be part of our tax fact team. Share your discoveries, and let’s learn together in a way that’s as fun as finding a $20 bill in an old pair of jeans.
Dive in with us as we explore the jungle of tax facts. It’s a place where you don’t need to be a math whiz to join the adventure. Bring your curiosity, share your stories, and let’s make taxes a little less boring and a lot more fun. Who knows? You might just become the next tax trivia champion among your friends!
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| For 2019, Nearly 184.6 million returns and other forms were filed electronically. These represented 72.9 percent of all filings. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| A former IRS commissioner went to prison for tax evasion in 1952. | Mental Floss |
| For each $100 collected by the IRS, it costs just thirty-nine cents. | Wallethacks |
| Federal tax returns were not always due April 15. In 1913, March 1 was the big day; in 1918 it was moved to March 15; and finally in 1954 the current Tax Day was established. | Cheapism |
| The first e-file occurred on January 24, 1986. | Wallethacks |
| Nearly 80,000 employees work at the IRS. | Wallethacks |
| The total cost to the IRS of collecting $100 decreased to $0.33 in FY 2019. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| The average tax refund is about $3,000 per year for Americans. | Mental Floss |
| Collectively Americans paid $5.2 trillion in federal, state, and local taxes last year — more than the combined cost of food, clothing, and housing, according to the Tax Foundation. | Cheapism |
| Cow flatulence tax in the EU aims to reduce greenhouse gases. | Tax Defense Partners |
| Al Capone was famously caught on tax evasion charges. | Cheapism |
| The IRS closed more than 1.9 million cases under the Automated Underreporter Program in FY 2019, resulting in almost $6.7 billion in additional assessments. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, not currency. | Tax Defense Partners |
| The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was designed to target 155 wealthy taxpayers in 1969. | Wallethacks |
| Tax Freedom Day was on April 16 in 2019. | Cheapism |
| The cost of one wig can be tax-deductible if it's medically recommended. | Tax Defense Partners |
| In FY 2019, the IRS collected more than $121.0 billion in unpaid assessments on returns filed with additional tax due, netting $44.0 billion after credit transfers. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| The IRS sends over 8 billion pages in forms and instructions every year. | Wallethacks |
| Federal tax returns were not always due April 15. In 1913, March 1 was the big day; in 1918 it was moved to March 15; and finally in 1954 the current Tax Day was established. | Cheapism |
| Since Jimmy Carter, all U.S. presidents except Donald Trump have released their tax returns. | FactRetriever |
| The 16th Amendment established the first permanent US income tax. | Wallethacks |
| The IRS collected more than $3.56 trillion in gross taxes in FY 2019 and issued almost 122 million refunds, amounting to more than $452 billion. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Seven out of the 10 largest tax bills are located on a coast: Massachusetts, DC, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida (on the East Coast) and Washington and California (on the West Coast). | AOL |
| In Fiscal Year 2019, the IRS recognized almost 1.9 million organizations as tax exempt. More than 1.7 million of these organizations were exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c). | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Most taxpayers (81 percent) are satisfied with their personal interactions with IRS. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| In FY 2019 IRS.gov received nearly 651 million visits and taxpayers downloaded almost 363 million files. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| In Fiscal Year 2019, the IRS assisted more than 67.3 million taxpayers through correspondence, its enterprise-wide telephone helplines, or at Taxpayer assistance Centers. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| The highest income tax bracket was once 94% in 1944. | Cheapism |
| According to the Tax Policy Center think tank, 42.8% of tax filers will owe no individual income tax or have negative taxable income for 2020. | Cheapism |
| The average American spends about 11 hours doing their taxes each year. | Mental Floss |
| Tax Day wasn't always on April 15; it was originally March 1. | Mental Floss |
| Actual expenditures for the IRS were $11.8 billion for overall operations in Fiscal Year 2019, up from about $11.7 billion in FY 2018. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Seven states have no income tax. | Cheapism |
| The percentage of taxpayers satisfied with their personal interactions with the IRS has increased since 2017, with most taxpayers being satisfied. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| California taxpayers in 2018 not only owed the highest amount of underpaid taxes in astudy (about $30.9 billion), but they also filed more tax returns with underpayments that year than any other state (almost 4.75 million). | AOL |
| In FY 2019, taxpayers proposed 54,225 offers in compromise to settle existing tax liabilities for less than the full amount owed. IRS accepted 17,890 offers, amounting to $289.4 million, during the year. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| In FY 2019 of the 1.9 million organizations tax exempt organizations nearly 70% (1.3 million) qualified as tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| The first income tax was in 1404 in England. | Wallethacks |
| While there is no dodging a federal bill, 7 states do not have an income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Tennessee tax only dividends and interest income. | Cheapism |
| According to the Tax Policy Center think tank, 42.8% of tax filers will owe no individual income tax or have negative taxable income for 2020. | Cheapism |
| In FY 2019, almost 61 million taxpayers were assisted by calling or visiting an IRS office. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| In 2018, Massachusetts had $5.43 billion in underpaid taxes, the eighth-highest amount for this metric in the study and the fourth-highest in the top 10. | AOL |
| The average amount of taxes owed from all returns with underpayments in the country is $5,262. That’s almost $2,000 less than North Dakota, the state that owes the most | AOL |
| During Fiscal Year 2019, the IRS collected more than $3.5 trillion, processed more than 253 million tax returns and other forms, and issued more than $452 billion in tax refunds. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Over 7 million words are in the tax law and regulations. | Wallethacks |
| TaxProvider has listings for over 60,000 tax preparers. You're sure to find one nearby. | TaxProvider |
| The first-ever federal income tax in the US was imposed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. | Mental Floss |
| The IRS closed 101,880 applications for tax-exempt status in FY 2019. The IRS approved tax-exempt status for 90.7 percent of these applications. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Americans paid over $5 trillion in taxes in 2019. | Cheapism |
| In 2019, Paid preparers filed more than 79.9 million individual tax returns electronically, and taxpayers filed more than 2.8 million returns using the IRS Free File program. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Collectively Americans paid $5.2 trillion in federal, state, and local taxes last year — more than the combined cost of food, clothing, and housing, according to the Tax Foundation. | Cheapism |
| In 2016, 74.2% of returns received refunds totaling $297 billion. | Wallethacks |
| The IRS pays whistleblowers up to 30% of what it collects. | Cheapism |
| In FY 2019, The IRS assessed nearly $33.8 billion in additional taxes for returns not filed timely and collected almost $1.9 billion with delinquent returns. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Most taxpayers continued to agree that cheating on their income taxes is not at all acceptable. The percentage agreeing increased in 2019 and has remained within a four-point range since 2010. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| In FY 2019, the IRS provided taxpayer assistance through almost 651 million visits to IRS.gov. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Of the taxpayers who participated in the 2019 Comprehensive Taxpayer Attitude Survey, 87% said it is not acceptable to cheat on their income taxes, and nearly all (95%) believe it is a civic duty to pay their fair share. | IRS Data Book 2019 |
| Alabama imposes a 10¢ tax on decks of playing cards. | FactRetriever |
