Question

3. Taxes paid for a given income level

Susan is getting ready to do her taxes. She is single and lives in Detroit. Susan earned $70,000 in taxable income in 2015. She reviews the following table, which shows the IRS tax rates for a single taxpayer in 2015.

On Annual Taxable Income...	The Tax Rate Is...
	(Percent)
Up to $9,225	10.0
From $9,225 to $37,450	15.0
From $37,450 to $90,750	25.0
From $90,750 to $189,300	28.0
From $189,300 to $411,500	33.0
From $411,500 to $413,200	35.0
Over $413,200	39.6

Based on the IRS table, Susan calculates that her marginal tax rate is (10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% or 35%) when her annual taxable income is $70,000.

Susan calculates that she owes ($5,156.25, $9,060.00, $12,371.25, $13,293.75 or $17,500.00) in income taxes for 2015.

The bold numbers and percentages are possible answers.

Susan then calculates that her average tax rate is (16%, 19%, 21%, 24% or 25%) , based on the annual income level and the amount of taxes she owes for 2015.

After figuring out what she owes in taxes in 2015, Susan decides to ask an accountant for tax advice. The accountant claims that he has found a legal way to shelter $1,000 of taxable income from the federal government.

The maximum amount that Susan is willing to pay to learn this strategy and reduce her taxable income by $1,000 is ($0, $190, $250, $1,000). (Hint: Sheltering some income means finding a legal way to avoid being charged income tax on that income. For example, someone who has $50,000 in taxable income and shelters $10,000 pays income tax on only $40,000.)

Answer 1

Marginal tax rate = 25%

Income taxes = 0.1*9225 + 0.15*(37450-9225) + 0.25*(70000-37450) = 13293.75

Avg tax = 13293.75/70000 *100 = 18.99% ~ 19%

Maximum amount that Susan will pay = 0.25*1000 = 250