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MONTHLY TAX FEATURES
Founded
Incorporated
1937
TIMFP Tax Foundation ,
Towar d
bette r
government
Volume 26, Number 3, March 198 2
1875 Connecticut Avenue, N .W . q Washington, D .C . 20009 q 202-328-4500 q
Although Federal tax receipts, a s
reported in the Budget, are expected
to increase by $63 .3 billion over the
next two fiscal years, this represents
a sharp decline in the growth trend s
of Federal tax collections, accordin g
to economists at the Tax Foundation .
In fiscal 1981, Federal tax receipt s
were $581 .6 billion ; for fiscal years
1982 and 1983, they are projected t o
be $606 .4 billion and $644 .9 billion ,
respectively—an average annual in-
crease of 5 .3 percent over 1981 . Dur -
ing the prior decade, Federal tax re -
ceipts grew at an average rate of 12 . 4
percent per year .
To a large extent, the reduction in
Federal Tax Growth U.S. Will Take $6,916 in Taxes
Shows Sharp Decline From Ordinary Taxpayer in FY 1982
s ERTA
es
d
the rate of growth of Federal tax re -
ceipts is due to the tax cuts enacte d
last year under the Economic Recov -
ery Tax Act of 1981 . All told, it i s
estimated that these tax cuts wil l
leave in the hands of the nation's tax -
payers $38.3 billion in 1982 an d
$91 .6 billion in 1983, which woul d
have been collected under prior law .
Of these amounts, individual an d
corporate income taxes are expecte d
to be reduced by $37.5 billion an d
$88.5 billion in 1982 and 1983, re-
spectively .
Individual income taxes, the larg-
est source of Federal tax revenues ,
are estimated to increase from $285 . 9
billion in 1981 to $304.5 billion in
1983—or 3 .2 percent per year . Ac-
cording to OMB estimates, had thes e
tax cuts not been enacted, individua l
(Continued on page 4)
Tell the ordinary taxpayer that Un-
cle Sam will spend $725 billion in
fiscal year 1982, and it may not mean
very much . Tell that worker that thi s
translates into a total Federal tax bil l
of $6,916 for him and his family, and
the numbers start to take on a recog -
nizable shape .
In order to translate vast bud