Fun Tax Facts

Taxes are synonymous with stress.  Although taxes are not fun, we have some amusing tax facts that you never knew you needed to know!

• Tax day affects hundreds of millions of people.
• The tax code is more than 10 million words long. Since 1955, it has grown an average of 144,500 words per year.
• The federal tax code was 400 pages in 1913. In 2010 it was 70,000 pages.
• Taxpayers spend $30 billion a year on tax software, preparation fees and supplies.
• Small business owners spend 60 hours each year filing taxes.
• The word tax is from the Latino taxo, meaning “I estimate.”
• The IRS is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• The United States has a progressive tax system which means the more money a person makes, the more income tax he or she will pay.
• Approximately 90% of people who employ housekeepers and babysitters cheat on their taxes by not claiming them.
• In 2016 nearly half of all tax dollars collected went toward social security and health programs.
• In 2010, General Electric made over $4 billion in U.S. profits. It paid $0 in taxes.
• Pumpkins are exempt from sales tax in Iowa, Pennsylvania and New Jersey if they are eaten and not carved.
• In California, fresh fruit bought through a vending machine is subject to 33% tax.
• In 2016, for every $100 in taxes paid, more than $6 went toward interest payments on the debt.
• If someone reports their company for tax evasion in the U.S., he or she will receive 30% of the amount collected.
• In Texas, Cowboy boots are exempt from sales tax.
• There are at least 480 tax forms on the IRS website.
• New York City has a special tax on food and prepared foods. If you have your bagel sliced in the store, you’ll pay both taxes.  Leave it uncut and you’ll only pay the food tax since nobody is “preparing” it for you.
• In 1935, the U.S. tax code’s highest income tax bracket (63%) applied to only one person – Nelson Rockefeller who earned over $5 million in 1934.
• The most famous protest of taxation by the American colonies was the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.
• Over the entrance to the IRS building in Washington D.C. is a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes that reads: “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”
• Chicago taxes soda bought in a bottle at a rate of 3% and taxes soda from fountains at 9%.
• When Americans started paying annual federal income tax in 1913, they would save money in anticipation of paying a lump sum to the federal government. After WWII, when the government needed a more consistent income to fund the war, taxes started being withheld from paychecks.
• In 1787, U.S. citizens were eligible to vote if they were taxpayers.
• In 2011, the IRS collected over $2.4 trillion from around 234 million tax returns. The IRS also refunded approximately $416 billion.
• In 2005, Tennessee began requiring drug dealers to anonymously pay taxes on any illegal substances they sold.
• The IRS is the world’s largest accounting and tax collection organization.
• In Colorado, essential food items are tax free but straws and cups lids are subject to tax.
• Forty-three of the fifty states charge their citizens an income tax. The states that don’t charge this tax are: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
• The average number of days a person worked to pay his or her 2009 taxes was 103.
• Double amputees in Oregon get a $50 tax credit.
• It is estimated that the collective cost of tax evasion over the last ten years equals approximately $3.09 billion.
• Over one million accountants are hired each year. You can put us in that number and hire Scott, Horewitch, Pidgeon & Abrams for your tax needs!!

While you’re enjoying summer activities, you can  impress your friends with some fun tax facts.  If you have any questions or need assistance with anything, please contact us at Lee CPAs & Associates LLC at 847-850-5300.