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Availability
1992-2009
Universe
Persons age 15+.
Codes
Description
MARGTAX reports the Federal Income Marginal Tax Rate for an individual or for a couple filing a joint tax return. The Marginal Tax Rate is the rate of tax imposed on an additional dollar of taxable income, or on the last dollar of taxable income. If a person's marginal tax rate is 43 percent, they will net $0.57 for every dollar (after taxes, 100 percent less 43 percent). Values for MARGTAX are 2-digits with an implicit decimal point before the first digit.
MARGTAX, like other tax-related variables included in the March CPS (ADJGINC, CAPGAIN, CAPLOSS, EITCRED, FEDRETIR, FEDTAX, FICA, FILESTAT, STATETAX, and TAXINC) was not determined by direct questioning of respondents. Rather, values for these variables come from the Census Bureau's tax model, which simulates individual tax returns to produce estimates of federal, state, and payroll taxes. The model incorporates information from non-CPS sources, such as the Internal Revenue Service's Statistics of Income series, the American Housing Survey, and the State Tax Handbook. For more information about the model, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-18RD. The IPUMS-CPS staff welcomes further information from users about the interpretation of this variable or other tax-related variables in the March CPS.
Comparability — General
The substantive meaning of MARGTAX is comparable over time, with values changing from year to year according to changes in tax laws. The Census Bureau updated its tax model annually to account for changes in marginal tax rates.
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