This section contains selected papers given at the 2005 annual meetings of the American Statistical Association conference. These papers were written by members of the Statistics of Income Division of IRS, and others.

The views expressed here are those of the authors and are not necessarily the official positions of the Internal Revenue Service.

These reports are available in Adobe PDF format. A free Adobe Acrobat® reader is available for download, if needed.

Citations are included in the papers. For more information about a paper, please send us an email message.

A Cluster Analysis Approach To Describing Tax DataPDF
Brian G. Raub and William W. Chen, Statistics of Income, IRS

This paper describes a population of Form 1118 filers using cluster analysis, with the goal of identifying alternative ways of organizing and analyzing tax data. A second goal is to identify new insights about this population of filers.

A Comparison of Income Concepts: IRS Statistics of Income, Census Current Population Survey, and BLS Consumer Expenditure SurveyPDF
Eric L. Henry and Charles D. Day, Statistics of Income, IRS

Several Federal Government agencies produce statistics on individual and household income. Because of the differing purposes to which their data will be put, agencies use different definitions for income (income concepts), as well as different reporting units, sample designs, collection modes, and processing rules.

Corporation Supercritical Cases: How Do Imputed Returns on the Corporate File Compare to the Actual Returns?PDF
Lucy Davitian, Statistics of Income, IRS

Statistics of Income (SOI) corporation "supercritical" cases are certain large corporations that SOI samples at the 100-percent rate. These supercritical cases account for 58 percent of the total assets of the corporation study while comprising only .03 percent of the total corporation returns; thus, their absence from the Corporation Study would affect the final statistics.

Internal Revenue Service Area-To-Area Migration Data: Strengths, Limitations, and Current TrendsPDF
Emily Gross, Statistics of Income, IRS

Datasets showing area-to-area migration of U.S. citizens are created using year-to-year changes in address information from Internal Revenue Service individual income tax returns. This paper will analyze the IRS data sets on area-to-area migration, following the development of the data from the IRS administrative records, through the geocoding process applied by the Census Bureau, and back to IRS for disclosure-proofing, file setup, and marketing of the data. The final dataset will be discussed further, highlighting the strengths and limitations, applications and current trends.

Measuring Nonsampling Error in the Statistics of Income Individual Tax Return StudyPDF
Jana Scali, Valerie Testa, Maureen Kahr, and Michael Strudler, Statistics of Income, IRS

The purpose of this paper is to estimate a component of nonsampling error in the SOI Individual Study. The data from the quality review process is used for this purpose.

Origins of the Estate and Personal Wealth Sample DesignPDF
Paul B. McMahon, Jr., Statistics of Income, IRS

One implication of the decentralized nature of the statistical system in the United States of America, composed of over 70 Federal Government organizations, is that the data used by lawmakers and researchers to develop and evaluate Government policies come from a variety of sources.

The Impact of the Followup Process on the 2002 Foreign Tax Credit Study DataPDF
Rob Singmaster and Lissa Redmiles, Statistics of Income, IRS

The followup process is an important step in the data cleansing process of the Foreign Tax Credit study conducted by the Statistics of Income Division of the IRS. The study itself collects data from corporate tax forms and their attached Form 1118’s.

The 1999 Individual Income Tax Return Edited PanelPDF
Michael E. Weber and Victoria L. Bryant, Statistics of Income, IRS

The primary product of the Statistics of Income Division's Individual Statistics Branch is an annual cross-sectional sample of individual income tax returns. Some form of this annual cross section, also known as the Individual Complete Report File, has been produced every year since 1916.

Trends in 401(k) and IRA Contribution Activity, 1999–2002—Results from a Panel of Matched Tax Returns and Information DocumentsPDF
Peter Sailer and Victoria L. Bryant, Statistics of Income, IRS and Sara Holden, Investment Company Institute

By combining individual tax returns (Form 1040) and information returns (such as Forms W–2 and 5498) in one panel database, the Statistics of Income (SOI) Division has made it possible to study trends in contributions by individual taxpayers over time to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA’s), as well as the participation in other types of retirement plans.


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