While you might have filed just one tax return in 2021, the IRS processed a staggering 153.6 million of them, revealing a landscape where total income surged even as filings dipped and where the top 1% shouldered over a fifth of the nation's Adjusted Gross Income.
Key Takeaways
- In tax year 2021, the IRS received 153.6 million individual income tax returns, representing a 1.2% decrease from the previous year
- Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) reported on individual returns in TY 2021 totaled $11.9 trillion, up 15.3% from TY 2020
- The top 1% of AGI taxpayers in TY 2021 reported 22.4% of total AGI at $2.666 trillion
- In 2022, Form 1120 corporate returns numbered 2.9 million with total assets $47.7 trillion
- TY 2022 C corporation net income totaled $2.8 trillion on 2.1 million returns
- S corporation returns in TY 2022: 4.9 million, total receipts $6.2 trillion
- In FY 2022, IRS audits of individual returns totaled 660,000
- FY 2022 audit coverage rate for individual returns over $1 million income was 2.4%
- IRS collected $52.6 billion from audits in FY 2022
- In FY 2023, IRS issued 92 million refunds averaging $3,138 each
- FY 2023 taxpayer assistance centers visits: 2.2 million appointments
- VITA/TCE program in FY 2023 prepared 2.5 million returns for free
- As of FY 2023, IRS workforce totaled 93,000 employees
- FY 2023 IRS budget appropriation: $12.3 billion, up 10% from prior year
- IT modernization spending FY 2023: $2.8 billion for systems upgrades
IRS data shows rising incomes and tax collections with expanding enforcement efforts.
Business Tax Returns
- In 2022, Form 1120 corporate returns numbered 2.9 million with total assets $47.7 trillion
- TY 2022 C corporation net income totaled $2.8 trillion on 2.1 million returns
- S corporation returns in TY 2022: 4.9 million, total receipts $6.2 trillion
- Partnership returns TY 2022: 4.5 million, ordinary income $1.1 trillion
- TY 2022 Form 1065 partnerships reported capital gains $312 billion
- Exempt organization returns TY 2022: 1.2 million, assets $5.8 trillion
- TY 2022 corporate dividends paid $1.7 trillion on Form 1120 returns
- Foreign corporations filing TY 2022: 0.45 million returns, income $2.1 trillion
- TY 2022 Schedule C nonfarm businesses: 16.0 million, gross receipts $692 billion
- Farm sole proprietorships TY 2022: 1.1 million returns, net income $42 billion
- TY 2022 Form 1120S S-corps employment taxes withheld $1.4 trillion
- Consolidated returns TY 2022: 8,200 groups, assets $38.2 trillion
- TY 2022 partnership foreign transactions: $4.5 trillion gross income
- Corporate depreciation deductions TY 2022: $1.2 trillion
- TY 2022 R&D credit claimed by 25,000 corporations totaling $12.5 billion
- NOL carrybacks TY 2022 corporations: $150 billion utilized
- TY 2022 Form 1065 partnerships assets $12.4 trillion
- Corporate foreign tax credits TY 2022: $128 billion
- TY 2022 S-corp ordinary dividends $892 billion
- Exempt orgs program service revenue TY 2022: $2.3 trillion
- TY 2022 corporate interest expense deducted $1.9 trillion
- Multi-employer pension contributions TY 2022: $285 billion
- TY 2022 Form 1120F foreign corp income $892 billion effectively connected
- Partnership guaranteed payments TY 2022: $168 billion
- Corporate bad debt deductions TY 2022: $52 billion
- TY 2022 S-corp losses allocated $245 billion to shareholders
Business Tax Returns Interpretation
While the IRS report reveals an economy of staggering scale and complexity—where trillions in assets, income, and deductions flow through millions of entities—the most human takeaway might be that we have built a financial galaxy so intricate, it takes an army of accountants just to chart the constellations of our capital.
Enforcement Statistics
- In FY 2022, IRS audits of individual returns totaled 660,000
- FY 2022 audit coverage rate for individual returns over $1 million income was 2.4%
- IRS collected $52.6 billion from audits in FY 2022
- FY 2022 non-filer enforcement actions identified 1.1 million delinquent returns
- Criminal investigations initiated by IRS CI in FY 2022: 2,550 cases
- FY 2022 IRS CI convictions: 90% conviction rate on 1,700 cases
- Taxpayer Advocate Service cases closed FY 2022: 289,000 with relief $1.4 billion
- FY 2022 automated underreporter adjustments: 3.2 million cases, $9.1 billion assessed
- IRS liens filed FY 2022: 442,000, levies: 512,000
- FY 2022 offshore enforcement identified $15.3 billion in taxes owed
- Whistleblower awards paid FY 2022: $36 million from $4.1 billion collected
- FY 2022 abusive tax shelter injunctions: 12 cases
- IRS appeals cases closed FY 2022: 82,000 with taxpayer favorable 44%
- FY 2022 passport revocation/denial certifications: 7,900 for seriously delinquent debts
- Criminal referrals from audits FY 2022: 2,200
- FY 2022 collection revenue from liens/levies: $14.8 billion
- Large business compliance program adjustments FY 2022: $1.3 billion
- FY 2022 identity theft victim assistance contacts: 380,000
- Employee benefit plan audits FY 2022: 1,500 exams, disqualification rate 12%
- FY 2022 frivolous return penalties assessed: $18 million on 23,000 returns
- Offshore credit card project FY 2022 yielded $1.2 billion assessments
- FY 2022 high-income nonfiler program identified 75,000 delinquents
- First-time penalty abatement requests granted FY 2022: 2.1 million
- FY 2022 tax preparer compliance actions: 2,800 injunctions/penalties
Enforcement Statistics Interpretation
The IRS spent FY 2022 playing a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek, where finding a millionaire netted them millions, catching a liar with their hand offshore bagged billions, and helping a small-time taxpayer start over cost them nothing, proving the taxman cometh for everyone but doesn't always leave empty-handed.
Individual Tax Returns
- In tax year 2021, the IRS received 153.6 million individual income tax returns, representing a 1.2% decrease from the previous year
- Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) reported on individual returns in TY 2021 totaled $11.9 trillion, up 15.3% from TY 2020
- The top 1% of AGI taxpayers in TY 2021 reported 22.4% of total AGI at $2.666 trillion
- In TY 2021, 57.5% of individual returns reported income tax liability totaling $1.9 trillion before credits
- Refundable credits like Earned Income Tax Credit were claimed on 26.8 million returns in TY 2021 amounting to $73.2 billion
- TY 2021 saw 81.3 million returns with itemized deductions averaging $32,456 per return
- Standard deduction was elected on 109.5 million returns in TY 2021, totaling effective deduction of $1.8 trillion
- In TY 2021, capital gains reported on individual returns totaled $1.2 trillion, with long-term gains comprising 88%
- Dividend income on TY 2021 returns summed to $417 billion, with qualified dividends at $344 billion
- Interest income reported was $248 billion on 53.4 million TY 2021 individual returns
- TY 2021 Schedule C sole proprietorship receipts totaled $758 billion from 16.2 million returns
- Rental income reported on TY 2021 Schedule E was $194 billion net from 15.8 million returns
- IRA distributions totaled $413 billion on 25.6 million TY 2021 returns, with rollovers at 42%
- In TY 2021, 14.7 million returns claimed child tax credit totaling $115.4 billion
- Medical and dental expenses deducted totaled $28.5 billion on TY 2021 itemized returns exceeding 7.5% AGI threshold
- State and local taxes deducted on TY 2021 returns summed to $602 billion, mostly property and income taxes
- Charitable contributions deducted totaled $186 billion on TY 2021 returns, with cash gifts at 78%
- Mortgage interest deductions on TY 2021 returns were $337 billion from 21.4 million homeowners
- TY 2021 returns with self-employment tax numbered 16.5 million, tax liability $151 billion
- Alternative Minimum Tax applied to 0.04 million TY 2021 returns, liability $3.8 billion
- In TY 2021, 92.3% of returns were e-filed, totaling 141.8 million electronic submissions
- Average AGI per return in TY 2021 was $77,500 across 153.6 million filings
- TY 2021 returns under $50,000 AGI comprised 62% of total but only 12% of AGI
- High-income returns over $10 million AGI in TY 2021 numbered 0.18 million, 26% of total AGI
- TY 2021 net capital losses carried back/over totaled $14.2 billion on 2.1 million returns
- Social Security benefits reported on TY 2021 returns were $1.1 trillion taxable portion $200 billion
- Education credits claimed on 11.2 million TY 2021 returns totaled $21.5 billion
- TY 2021 gambling winnings reported $2.5 billion on 1.8 million returns
- Penalty on early IRA withdrawals applied to $12.4 billion distributions in TY 2021
- TY 2021 returns claiming head of household status: 14.3 million, 9% of total
Individual Tax Returns Interpretation
While the pandemic slightly thinned the annual ritual of tax filing in 2021, America's collective wallet swelled significantly—lifting overall Adjusted Gross Income by over 15% to nearly $12 trillion—a surge that primarily enriched the top 1%, who captured more than a fifth of all that income while itemizing, deducting, and capital-gaining their way through a system where the majority of returns filed came from those earning under $50,000, who together claimed only 12% of the total pie, proving that while the process is universally shared, the rewards and reliefs within it are anything but.
Operations and Budget
- As of FY 2023, IRS workforce totaled 93,000 employees
- FY 2023 IRS budget appropriation: $12.3 billion, up 10% from prior year
- IT modernization spending FY 2023: $2.8 billion for systems upgrades
- FY 2023 gross collections: $4.7 trillion, net $4.1 trillion after refunds
- Refund outlays FY 2023: $659 billion on 104 million payments
- FY 2023 enforcement budget: $4.8 billion yielding $5.2 ROI per dollar
- IRS facilities: 400+ taxpayer assistance centers and offices nationwide FY 2023
- FY 2023 hiring: 20,000 new employees for enforcement and services
- Customer service budget FY 2023: $1.2 billion for phones and TACs
- FY 2023 data center processing: 250 million returns electronically
- Inflation Reduction Act funding FY 2023: $3.2 billion obligated
- FY 2023 training expenditures: $250 million for 93,000 staff
- Real estate portfolio FY 2023: 100 million sq ft managed
- FY 2023 procurement contracts: 45,000 totaling $8.5 billion
- Cybersecurity incidents responded FY 2023: 1,200 with zero major breaches
- FY 2023 diversity workforce: 45% women, 37% minorities
- Employee turnover rate FY 2023: 8.2%
- FY 2023 overtime expenditures: $450 million for peak seasons
- Cloud migration FY 2023: 60% of workloads to cloud
- FY 2023 AI/ML projects deployed: 25 for fraud detection
- Disaster relief processing FY 2023: 12 million adjustments for 45 declarations
- FY 2023 sustainability goals: 25% reduction in energy use
- International staff FY 2023: 1,200 in 80 countries
- FY 2023 legacy system modernizations: 15 systems replaced
Operations and Budget Interpretation
While the IRS managed a staggering $4.7 trillion with a modest budget, proving itself a remarkably efficient profit center, it's also a massive, human-powered machine spending billions to answer your calls, chase cheats, and drag its own creaking technology into the modern cloud, one tax form at a time.
Taxpayer Services
- In FY 2023, IRS issued 92 million refunds averaging $3,138 each
- FY 2023 taxpayer assistance centers visits: 2.2 million appointments
- VITA/TCE program in FY 2023 prepared 2.5 million returns for free
- FY 2023 phone lines answered: 40 million calls, average wait 28 minutes
- Direct File pilot FY 2023: 140,000 users in 12 states
- FY 2023 account transcript requests: 65 million via online tools
- Taxpayer Advocate systemic advocacy issues resolved FY 2023: 28 cases
- FY 2023 identity theft PIN issuances: 42 million
- Low Income Taxpayer Clinics assisted 92,000 taxpayers FY 2023 with $524 million relief
- FY 2023 e-filing rate reached 90.7% for individual returns
- Correspondence audit adjustments favorable to taxpayers FY 2023: 35%
- FY 2023 installment agreements active: 20.4 million
- Online payment processor transactions FY 2023: 45 million totaling $120 billion
- FY 2023 Spanish language services: 12 million documents/notices
- Volunteer programs trained 80,000 preparers FY 2023
- FY 2023 digital assets guidance views: 5 million on IRS.gov
- Taxpayer Bill of Rights complaints investigated FY 2023: 15,000
- FY 2023 recovery rebate credit claims processed: 1.2 million
- Accessibility improvements FY 2023: 95% compliance on IRS.gov
- FY 2023 stakeholder liaison group meetings: 1,200 events
- Online account registrations FY 2023: 18 million new users
- FY 2023 elder abuse prevention referrals: 4,500
Taxpayer Services Interpretation
While juggling tens of millions of taxpayers, a phone wait time, and a relentless barrage of digital demands, the modern IRS is a massive, imperfect, but increasingly digital machine striving to be both a revenue collector and a surprisingly human service provider.