Table 1. – Individual Income Tax Returns with Positive Adjusted Gross Income (AGI): Number of Returns, Shares of AGI andTotal Income Tax, AGI Floor on Percentiles in Current and Constant Dollars, and Average Tax Rates, by Selected Descending Cumulative Percentiles of Returns Based on Income Size Using the Definition of AGI for Each Year, Tax Years 1986-2000 [All figures are estimates based on samples]
Descending cumulative percentiles
Year: Total………………Top 1%…………Top 5%………Top 10%…….Top 25%……….Top 50%
Number of returns: [1]
1986: 102,087,623……1,020,876……5,104,381……10,208,762……25,521,906……51,043,811
1987: 106,154,761……1,061,548……5,307,738……10,615,476……26,538,690……53,077,380
1988: 108,872,859……1,088,729……5,443,643……10,887,286……27,218,214……54,436,429
1989: 111,312,721……1,113,127……5,565,636……11,131,272……27,828,181……55,656,361
1990: 112,812,262……1,128,123……5,640,613……11,281,226……28,203,066……56,406,132
1991: 113,804,104……1,138,041……5,690,205……11,380,410……28,451,026……56,902,052
1992: 112,652,759……1,126,528……5,632,638……11,265,276……28,163,190……56,326,380
1993: 113,681,387……1,136,814……5,684,069……11,368,139……28,420,347……56,840,694
1994: 114,989,920……1,149,899……5,749,496……11,498,992……28,747,480……57,494,960
1995: 117,274,186……1,172,742……5,863,709……11,727,419……29,318,546……58,637,093
1996: 119,441,767……1,194,418……5,972,088……11,944,177……29,860,442……59,720,884
1997: 121,503,284……1,215,033……6,075,164……12,150,328……30,375,821……60,751,642
1998: 123,775,831……1,237,758……6,188,792……12,377,583……30,943,958……61,887,915
1999: 126,008,974……1,260,090……6,300,449……12,600,897……31,502,244……63,004,487
2000: 128,227,143……1,282,271……6,411,357……12,822,714……32,056,786……64,113,572
Adjusted gross income floor on percentiles (current dollars):
1986: N/A……118,818……62,377……48,656……32,242……17,302
1987: N/A……139,289……68,414……52,921……33,983……17,768
1988: N/A……157,136……72,735……55,437……35,398……18,367
1989: N/A……163,869……76,933……58,263……36,839……18,993
1990: N/A……167,421……79,064……60,287……38,080……19,767
1991: N/A……170,139……81,720……61,944……38,929……20,097
1992: N/A……181,904……85,103……64,457……40,378……20,803
1993: N/A……185,715……87,386……66,077……41,210……21,179
1994: N/A……195,726……91,226……68,753……42,742……21,802
1995: N/A……209,406……96,221……72,094……44,207……22,344
1996: N/A……227,546……101,141……74,986……45,757……23,174
1997: N/A……250,736……108,048……79,212……48,173……24,393
1998: N/A……269,496……114,729……83,220……50,607……25,491
1999: N/A……293,415……120,846……87,682……52,965……26,415
2000: N/A……313,469……128,336……92,144……55,225……27,682
Adjusted gross income floor on percentiles (constant dollars): [2]
1986: N/A……108,411……56,913……44,394……29,418……15,786
1987: N/A……122,614……60,224……46,585……29,915……15,641
1988: N/A……132,828……61,484……46,861……29,922……15,526
1989: N/A……132,152……62,043……46,986……29,709……15,317
1990: N/A……128,096……60,493……46,126……29,135……15,124
1991: N/A……124,919……60,000……45,480……28,582……14,756
1992: N/A……129,654……60,658……45,942……28,780……14,828
1993: N/A……128,522……60,475……45,728……28,519……14,657
1994: N/A……132,069……61,556……46,392……28,841……14,711
1995: N/A……137,406……63,137……47,306……29,007……14,661
1996: N/A……145,026……64,462……47,792……29,163……14,769
1997: N/A……156,222……67,320……49,353……30,014……15,198
1998: N/A……164,427……69,999……50,775……30,877……15,553
1999: N/A……176,119……72,537……52,630……31,792……15,855
2000: N/A……182,038……74,527……53,510……32,070……16,075
Adjusted gross income (millions of dollars):
1986: 2,524,124……285,197……608,467……886,510……1,490,173……2,103,569
1987: 2,813,728……346,635……722,221……1,038,221……1,709,389……2,373,869
1988: 3,124,156……473,527……890,702……1,232,536……1,950,860……2,657,865
1989: 3,298,858……468,079……918,421……1,286,539……2,054,478……2,805,235
1990: 3,451,237……483,252……953,337……1,338,032……2,144,177……2,932,537
1991: 3,516,142……456,603……943,350……1,343,202……2,174,765……2,984,003
1992: 3,680,552……523,586……1,031,093……1,443,784……2,299,401……3,131,400
1993: 3,775,578……520,586……1,048,252……1,474,463……2,357,953……3,212,299
1994: 3,961,146……546,700……1,103,084……1,552,205……2,481,074……3,371,352
1995: 4,244,607……619,610……1,222,723……1,704,513……2,689,820……3,627,542
1996: 4,590,527……736,545……1,393,805……1,909,149……2,952,637……3,944,383
1997: 5,023,457……872,826……1,597,107……2,151,401……3,267,600……4,327,992
1998: 5,469,211……1,010,245……1,796,647……2,393,716……3,589,600……4,721,430
1999: 5,909,329……1,152,820……2,011,763……2,652,835……3,927,308……5,126,164
2000: 6,423,977……1,336,773……2,267,403……2,955,386……4,313,786……5,589,755
Descending cumulative percentiles
Year: Total…………Top 1%…..Top 5%…….Top 10%….Top 25%….Top 50%
Total income tax (millions of dollars): [3]
1986: 366,979……94,491……156,240……200,703……278,976……343,289
1987: 369,046……91,559……159,642……205,230……283,857……346,655
1988: 412,761……113,841……188,303……236,411……321,297……389,145
1989: 432,838……109,259……190,188……241,458……334,258……407,599
1990: 447,061……112,338……195,088……247,514……344,340……421,075
1991: 448,349……111,267……194,480……250,282……346,511……423,759
1992: 476,163……131,156……218,479……276,213……373,700……452,070
1993: 502,720……145,836……238,083……297,808……398,516……478,563
1994: 534,754……154,337……254,106……317,902……425,402……509,256
1995: 588,331……178,035……287,741……357,402……472,808……561,225
1996: 658,124……212,626……335,433……411,404……535,164……629,684
1997: 727,303……241,239……377,241……459,639……594,007……696,161
1998: 788,452……274,009……424,506……512,836……651,964……755,240
1999: 877,292……317,419……486,464……583,002……732,890……842,168
2000: 980,521……366,929……553,670……660,150……823,706……942,179
Average tax rate (percentage): [4]
1986: 14.54……33.13……25.68……22.64……18.72……16.32
1987: 13.12……26.41……22.10……19.77……16.61……14.60
1988: 13.21……24.04……21.14……19.18……16.47……14.64
1989: 13.12……23.34……20.71……18.77……16.27……14.53
1990: 12.95……23.25……20.46……18.50……16.06……14.36
1991: 12.75……24.37……20.62……18.63……15.93……14.20
1992: 12.94……25.05……21.19……19.13……16.25……14.44
1993: 13.32……28.01……22.71……20.20……16.90……14.90
1994: 13.50……28.23……23.04……20.48……17.15……15.11
1995: 13.86……28.73……23.53……20.97……17.58……15.47
1996: 14.34……28.87……24.07……21.55……18.12……15.96
1997: 14.48……27.64……23.62……21.36……18.18……16.09
1998: 14.42……27.12……23.63……21.42……18.16……16.00
1999: 14.85……27.53……24.18……21.98……18.66……16.43
2000: 15.26……27.45……24.42……22.34……19.09……16.86
Adjusted gross income share (percentage): 1986: 100.00……11.30……24.11……35.12……59.04……83.34
1987: 100.00……12.32……25.67……36.90……60.75……84.37
1988: 100.00……15.16……28.51……39.45……62.44……85.07
1989: 100.00……14.19……27.84……39.00……62.28……85.04
1990: 100.00……14.00……27.62……38.77……62.13……84.97
1991: 100.00……12.99……26.83……38.20……61.85……84.87
1992: 100.00……14.23……28.01……39.23……62.47……85.08
1993: 100.00……13.79……27.76……39.05……62.45……85.08
1994: 100.00……13.80……27.85……39.19……62.64……85.11
1995: 100.00……14.60……28.81……40.16……63.37……85.46
1996: 100.00……16.04……30.36……41.59……64.32……85.92
1997: 100.00……17.38……31.79……42.83……65.05……86.16
1998: 100.00……18.47……32.85……43.77……65.63……86.33
1999: 100.00……19.51……34.04……44.89……66.46……86.75
2000: 100.00……20.81……35.30……46.01……67.15……87.01
Total income tax share (percentage): 1986: 100.00……25.75……42.57……54.69……76.02……93.54
1987: 100.00……24.81……43.26……55.61……76.92……93.93
1988: 100.00……27.58……45.62……57.28……77.84……94.28
1989: 100.00……25.24……43.94……55.78……77.22……94.17
1990: 100.00……25.13……43.64……55.36……77.02……94.19
1991: 100.00……24.82……43.38……55.82……77.29……94.52
1992: 100.00……27.54……45.88……58.01……78.48……94.94
1993: 100.00……29.01……47.36……59.24……79.27……95.19
1994: 100.00……28.86……47.52……59.45……79.55……95.23
1995: 100.00……30.26……48.91……60.75……80.36……95.39
1996: 100.00……32.31……50.97……62.51……81.32……95.68
1997: 100.00……33.17……51.87……63.20……81.67……95.72
1998: 100.00……34.75……53.84……65.04……82.69……95.79
1999: 100.00……36.18……55.45……66.45……83.54……96.00
2000: 100.00……37.42……56.47……67.33……84.01……96.09
N/A– Not applicable.
[1] The number of returns with negative adjusted gross income, i.e., returns with an adjusted gross deficit, and the corresponding amounts for adjusted gross deficit, were excluded from Table 1. By excluding deficit returns, alternative minimum tax reported on some of these returns was also excluded. For Tax Year 2000, there were 5,714 returns with no adjusted gross income that reported income tax, mostly alternative minimum tax, totaling $100.6 million.
[2] For Table 1, constant dollars were calculated using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index for urban consumers (CPI-U, 1982-84=100). For 2000 the CPI-U = 172.2
[3] Total income tax is the sum of income tax after credits and alternative minimum tax reported on returns that showed a positive amount for adjusted gross income. Therefore, total income tax excludes alternative minimum tax, Form 8814 tax (tax on a child’s interest or dividends), and Form 4972 tax (tax on lump-sum distributions from qualified retirement plans) reported on some returns with a negative amount for adjusted gross income. See also footnote 1.
[4] The average tax rate was computed by dividing total income tax (see footnote 3) by (positive) adjusted gross income.
Note: Unles otherwise stated, money amounts are in current (not constant) denominations.