Tax Year 2004 County Income Record Layout and Users Guide A. File characteristics: ASCII language Filename = countyincome04.dat Record length = 115 characters B. Records Included: The file contains a record for each state in the U.S. (including the District of Columbia) and for each county and county equivalent in the U.S. Data items requiring suppression had the data value added into a successor county, and the value needing suppression replaced with a "-1". The suppression counties and successor counties are shown in the following table. Data items affected are noted by an "X" in the appropriate column of the following table. Suppress Successor All Wage Div Int Counties Counties Data & Inc Inc Items Salary 15-005 (Kalawao) 15-009 (Maui) X 48-261 (Kenedy) 48-215 (Hidalgo) X 48-301 (Loving) 48-475 (Ward) X C. Record description: Character Description Positions 1-2 FIPS State Code 01 to 56 = States in the U.S. 3 Blank 4-6 FIPS County Code: 000 = County code on a state record 001 to 999 = Potential legitimate values. See state/county codelist for actual county codes used. 7 Blank 8-9 State abbreviation (2-character) AL to WY = States in the U.S. 10 Blank 11-42 County Name 43 Blank 44-55 Number of returns -1 = data value suppressed 10 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values 56-67 Number of exemptions (excluding deceased) -1 = data value suppressed 10 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values 68-79 Adjusted gross income (in 1000s) -1 = data value suppressed -99999999999 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values 80-91 Wages and salaries income (in 1000s) -1 = data value suppressed 10 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values 92-103 Dividends before exclusion (in 1000s) -1 = data value suppressed 10 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values 104-115 Interest received, including taxable and non-taxable interest income (in 1000s) -1 = data value suppressed 10 to 999999999999 = Potential legitimate values D. Definitions and Explanations Data Source The data include records for individual income tax forms 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ (Beginning with the tax year 1987, the foreign category also includes forms 1040NR, 1040PR, 1040VI and 1040SS.) processed through Cycle 39 (the 39th week in the IRS's processing year) which is in late September. Returns processed after that date are not included in the data. The data usually contain about 95 to 98 percent of all returns filed during any particular tax year. The returns cover the tax filing units -- the filer and spouse of filer, plus all exemptions represented on the forms. The tax year 1997 file contained, for example, 105 million returns representing about 227 million persons, as defined by the exemptions reported on the forms. Thus, there are two limitations of these data sources -- file coverage and population coverage. Because the file coverage is not complete, any control counts shown in these tables will not match analogous control counts in other IRS statistical data products. Second, there are segments of the population that are not well represented by tax returns; most notably, the elderly and the poor. Thus, care should be exercised when using these data as proxies for the other population universes. Reference Period The tax returns are (mostly) filed during the spring following the end of the tax year. The 2004 tax returns are filed in the spring of 2005 and represent residence as of filing. Thus, when we refer to income or the files themselves, we refer to tax year. Income Data Description The income amounts represent the taxable income amounts shown on the tax forms. Aggregate income is the sum total of the income amounts from all applicable records. Wage and Salary Income includes income from wages, salaries, tips, etc (see line 7 on the form 1040) Interest Income includes taxable interest income and the non- taxable interest income (see lines 8a and 8b in the form 1040) Dividend income includes taxable distributions of money, stock, or other property received from domestic or foreign corporations, excluding non-taxable distributions or distributions that are treated as interest income (see line 9 on the form 1040). Adjusted gross income includes the taxable income from all sources, less the adjustments to income, such as IRS deduction, self employment tax and health insurance, alimony paid, etc. (See line 36 on the form 1040).