Income Ranges of Taxpayers Who May Have Overpaid Federal Taxes by
Not Itemizing (11-APR-02, GAO-02-638R). 			 
								 
This report provides information on the income ranges of	 
taxpayers who may have overpaid federal taxes by not itemizing.  
GAO found that of the returns filed for tax year 1998, of	 
taxpayers may have overpaid federal taxes by not itemizing, 53	 
percent showed adjusted gross incomes of $50,000 or less. Eleven 
percent showed adjusted gross incomes of more than $75,000. The  
median adjusted gross income for these returns was about $47,000 
(with a 95 percent confidence interval of $35,000 to $58,000).	 
The median adjusted gross income for all returns filed in tax	 
year 1998 was about $27,000.					 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-02-638R					        
    ACCNO:   A03064						        
  TITLE:     Income Ranges of Taxpayers Who May Have Overpaid Federal 
Taxes by Not Itemizing						 
     DATE:   04/11/2002 
  SUBJECT:   Overpayments					 
	     Federal taxes					 
	     Income taxes					 
	     Taxpayers						 

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GAO-02-638R
     
GAO- 02- 638R Income Ranges

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

April 11, 2002 The Honorable Dick Armey Majority Leader House of
Representatives

Subject: Income Ranges of Taxpayers Who May Have Overpaid Federal Taxes by
Not Itemizing

Dear Mr. Armey: As was discussed with your staff, this letter provides some
information on the income ranges of taxpayers who may have overpaid federal
taxes by not itemizing. This information relates to our March 29, 2002,
report Tax Deductions: Further Estimates of Taxpayers Who May Have Overpaid
Federal Taxes by Not Itemizing (GAO- 02- 509) and was developed in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

As shown in table 1, we estimate that of the returns filed for tax year 1998
by taxpayers who may have overpaid federal taxes by not itemizing, 53
percent showed adjusted gross incomes of $50,000 or less. Eleven percent of
the returns showed adjusted gross incomes of more than $75,000.

Table 1: Distribution of Returns, by Adjusted Gross Income, on Which
Taxpayers May Have Overpaid Taxes because Itemizable Deductions May Have
Exceeded the Standard Deduction, Tax Year 1998

Returns on which mortgage interest and points and state and local income tax
plus imputed charitable contributions, real estate and personal property
taxes exceeded the standard deduction Adjusted gross

income range Estimated

returns (in thousands)

95% confidence interval (in thousands) Percentage of

returns

ï¿½$ 25,000 288 198- 401 13 $25,001-$ 50,000 853 588- 1, 177 40 $50,001-$
75,000 774 456- 1, 140 36 $75,001-$ 100, 000 179 119- 257 8

>$ 100, 000 62 37- 98 3

Total 2,157 1,602- 2,838 100

Note: Totals may not sum because of rounding. Source: GAO analysis of
Statistics of Income and other IRS data and Department of Labor consumer
expenditure survey data.

GAO- 02- 638R Income Ranges Page 2

The median adjusted gross income for these returns was about $47,000 (with a
95 percent confidence interval of $35,000 to $58,000). The median adjusted
gross income for all returns in tax year 1998 was about $27,000.

We are sending copies of this letter to Representative William Thomas,
chairman, and Representative Charles B. Rangel, ranking minority member,
House Committee on Ways and Means; Senator Max Baucus, chairman, and Senator
Charles E. Grassley, ranking member, Senate Finance Committee;
Representative Amo Houghton, chairman, and Representative William J. Coyne,
ranking minority member, Subcommittee on Oversight, House Committee on Ways
and Means; and the Honorable Charles O. Rossotti, commissioner of internal
revenue. We will make copies available to others on request. This letter
will also be available on GAO?s home page at http:// www. gao. gov.

If you have any questions, please contact me on (202) 512- 9110 or Assistant
Director Ralph Block on (415) 904- 2150.

Sincerely yours, James R. White Director, Tax Issues

(440124)
*** End of document. ***