About 40% of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax this year, down from 60% two years ago in a sign that workers are making enough money again to fork over some of it to the government.
The Tax Policy Center said 72.5 million households will pay no federal income tax, down from 99 million (56%) households in 2021 and 100 million households in 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic nudged millions of people out of work and their unemployment benefits were shielded from income taxes.
The numbers suggest the labor market has returned to its pre-pandemic levels, “which is to say pretty tight, pretty strong,” Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, told MarketWatch. “Lots of people are working, lots of people are paying income tax.”
The unemployment rate is around 3.5% — one of the lowest rates in decades.
However, people remained concerned about the high cost of food and other goods due to rampant inflation.
Those concerns have been a political drag on President Biden and Democrats, who are poised to lose their House majority and may lose their grip on the Senate in the midterm elections.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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