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Do Individuals or Corporations Contribute More Income Taxes?

L. S. Wynn

Last Modified Date: January 29, 2024

The United States government raises the majority of its revenue through taxation. The primary tax sources are: individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, exise taxes, social insurance taxes, estate and gift taxes and custom duties.

In the table below, we have illustrated the total revenue generated by individual income taxes compared to corporate income taxes. The amounts are quoted in billions of actual dollars (they do not account for inflation).

W-9 form, a type of tax form filed for freelance and contract employees.

The numbers fluctuate from year to year, but the overall trends are very clear. Individual income taxes make up a much larger percentage of government revenue when compared to the contributions made by corporations. In 1967 for example, corporations contributed 57% of the amount paid by individual income taxes. Contrast that with the data from 2001 in which corporations paid only 15% of the amount contributed by individuals.

U.S. Government Revenue in billions of dollars.
individual income taxes		year	corporate income taxes
	45.6	1962	20.5
	47.6	1963	21.6
	48.7	1964	23.5
	48.8	1965	25.5
	55.4	1966	30.1
	61.5	1967	34.0
	68.7	1968	28.7
	87.2	1969	36.7
	90.4	1970	32.8
	86.2	1971	26.8
	94.7	1972	32.2
	103.2	1973	36.2
	119.0	1974	38.6
	122.4	1975	40.6
	131.6	1976	41.4
	157.6	1977	54.9
	181.0	1978	60.0
	217.8	1979	65.7
	244.1	1980	64.6
	285.9	1981	61.1
	297.7	1982	49.2
	288.9	1983	37.0
	298.4	1984	56.9
	334.5	1985	61.3
	349.0	1986	63.1
	392.6	1987	83.9
	401.2	1988	94.5
	445.7	1989	103.3
	466.9	1990	93.5
	467.8	1991	98.1
	476.0	1992	100.3
	509.7	1993	117.5
	543.1	1994	140.4
	590.2	1995	157.0
	656.4	1996	171.8
	737.5	1997	182.3
	828.6	1998	188.7
	879.5	1999	184.7
	1,004.5	2000	207.3
	994.3	2001	151.1
	858.3	2002	148.0
	793.7	2003	131.8

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