On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 12:01:31 GMT, "John Smith" <jsmith@news.com>
wrote:
>"Report: IRS data shows first-ever consecutive-year drop; loss of jobs
>blamed.
>July 29, 2004: 7:05 AM EDT
>
>
>
>NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Americans' overall income shrank for two consecutive
>years after stocks plunged in 2000, the first time that has effectively
>happened in the since the current tax system was put in place during World
>War II, according to a published report Thursday."
>
>http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/29/news/economy/income/index.htm?cnn=yes
>
not a big deal when you read the entire article,
Americans' incomes fell for two years
Report: IRS data shows first-ever consecutive-year drop; loss of jobs
blamed.
July 29, 2004: 7:05 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Americans' overall income shrank for two
consecutive years after stocks plunged in 2000, the first time that
has effectively happened in the since the current tax system was put
in place during World War II, according to a published report
Thursday.
The New York Times, reporting data from the Internal Revenue Service,
said gross income reported to the agency fell 5.1 percent to $6.0
trillion in 2002, the most recent year for which data is available,
down from $6.35 trillion in 2000. Because of population growth,
average income fell even more, by 5.7 percent, and adjusted for
inflation the decline was 9.2 percent.
The paper said the decline was due to a combination of the big fall in
the stock market and the loss of jobs and wages in well-paying
industries as the recession started in 2001.
The drop in income has hit government tax collections -- the paper
said individual income taxes declined 18.8 percent between 2000 and
2002. Part of that was due to tax cuts passed in 2001.
The report said the sharpest drops were in both the number and the
earnings of people with the highest incomes. Those with incomes of $10
million or more saw average income fall 22 percent, while the number
of returns reporting incomes at that level fell 53 percent during the
two year period.
Meanwhile the average income of those filing returns with incomes
between $25,000 and $500,000 saw the average income little changed,
somewhere between a 0.1 percent decline and a 0.2 percent gain,
depending upon the income category, the Times said.
|
|