Read CNN’s Fast Facts about “Tax Day,” the annual deadline to file income tax returns in the United States, which generally falls on April 15th.
Filing Statistics The IRS’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal Year 2019 The IRS amassed over $3.5 trillion in gross tax collections and issued almost 122 million refunds, totaling over $452 billion. Individual Income Tax Returns Filed Total Number of Returns: 154,094,555 Gross Amount Collected: $1,942,182,201,000 Total Individual Income Tax Refunds Number: 121,892,252 Amount: $452,103,909,000 Where Do The Taxes Go? (Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, FY 2019) Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, marketplace subsidies 25% Social Security 23% National Defense 16% Safety net programs 8% Benefits for veterans & federal retirees 8% Interest on debt 8% Education 2% Transportation infrastructure 2% Science and medical research 2% Non-security international 1% All other 4% Timeline 1862 – During the Civil War, the IRS is born when President Abraham Lincoln and Congress create the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enact an income tax to pay war expenses.
