Who comes up with definition of middle class

[Chapdog]

Was just working on making sure my tax return DIF score is falling in line with avg. Checking out historic stats from the IRS. On the attached spreadsheet it gives you returns by income range. BY far the largest quantity or returns filed fits in the 100-200k range. So why is it they claim middle class is much lower then that?


http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=175800,00.html

 

[Bonestorm]

Was just working on making sure my tax return DIF score is falling in line with avg. Checking out historic stats from the IRS. On the attached spreadsheet it gives you sat returns by income filed. BY far the largest quantity or returns filed fits in the 100-200k range. So why is it they claim middle class is much lower then that?


http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=175800,00.html

Median household income is a good barometer.


Edit: And you aren't looking at the number of returns filed. You seem to be looking at something else. If you look at the number of returns filed you will see that most are under $75,000 in adjusted gross income.

 

[Chapdog]

im looking at the fact that thoes making between 100-200k have highest number of tax returns.

2006 Stats ----- # of returns ----- Total Tax ----- avg tax paid
No adjusted gross income [1] ----- 2,675,594 ----- 181,211 -----
$1 under $1,000 ----- 1,702,446 ----- 200 ----- 5
$1,000 under $3,000 ----- 4,822,499 ----- 28,971 ----- 61
$3,000 under $5,000 ----- 5,108,425 ----- 59,514 ----- 176
$5,000 under $7,000 ----- 4,780,363 ----- 153,267 ----- 110
$7,000 under $9,000 ----- 4,776,483 ----- 293,604 ----- 253
$9,000 under $11,000 ----- 4,458,082 ----- 474,909 ----- 245
$11,000 under $13,000 ----- 4,869,072 ----- 893,416 ----- 371
$13,000 under $15,000 ----- 4,614,426 ----- 1,212,323 ----- 540
$15,000 under $17,000 ----- 4,516,328 ----- 1,587,695 ----- 709
$17,000 under $19,000 ----- 4,343,217 ----- 2,014,841 ----- 881
$19,000 under $22,000 ----- 6,054,724 ----- 3,753,564 ----- 1,073
$22,000 under $25,000 ----- 5,935,685 ----- 4,904,870 ----- 1,382
$25,000 under $30,000 ----- 8,749,761 ----- 10,396,566 ----- 1,800
$30,000 under $40,000 ----- 14,151,823 ----- 27,293,090 ----- 2,446
$40,000 under $50,000 ----- 10,687,193 ----- 32,509,508 ----- 3,485
$50,000 under $75,000 ----- 18,854,917 ----- 94,443,395 ----- 5,300
$75,000 under $100,000 ----- 11,140,408 ----- 90,019,371 ----- 8,198
$100,000 under $200,000 ----- 12,088,423 ----- 209,381,101 ----- 17,388
$200,000 under $500,000 ----- 3,121,485 ----- 177,041,086 ----- 56,831
$500,000 under $1,000,000 ----- 589,306 ----- 94,213,951 ----- 160,215
$1,000,000 under $1,500,000 ----- 150,431 ----- 44,125,224 ----- 293,972
$1,500,000 under $2,000,000 ----- 64,007 ----- 26,721,295 ----- 418,416
$2,000,000 under $5,000,000 ----- 98,724 ----- 71,647,095 ----- 727,197
$5,000,000 under $10,000,000 ----- 24,975 ----- 39,556,521 ----- 1,587,086
$10,000,000 or more ----- 15,956 ----- 91,013,554 ----- 5,713,702

 

[Bonestorm]

im looking at the fact that thoes making between 100-200k have highest number of tax returns.

Looking at the first table (scroll all the way to the left) there are about 12 million returns showing adjusted gross income between 100 and 200k. There are 18 million returns for 50 - 75k, 10 million for 40-50k and 14 million for 30-40k.

 

[Chapdog]

ahh ok, took closer look. still amazing how much of the tax people in the 100-200 range pay. Very good information to sift thru to make sure your taxes are on average with where the rest of people in your range is. My theory is DIF is simply a measure against the avg. if your below avg for potential tax revenue for the govt they will more likely audit you.