Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Income is money that you get for doing something or investing your money. It can come from working, owning a business, or having money in the bank. The government can tax your income, which means they take a portion of it to pay for things like schools and roads. There are different types of income, like wages, salary, and rental income. When you calculate your income for taxes, you start with your gross income, which is all the money you made. Then you subtract some things, like deductions, to get your taxable income, which is the amount the government can tax.
Income refers to the money or value that an individual or business entity receives in exchange for providing a good or service or through investing capital. This can include:
The federal government is allowed to tax income under the 16th Amendment, and state governments may also have their own income tax regimes. For example, New York's Tax Code defines taxable income in reference to the federal income tax regime.
For federal income tax purposes, income is divided into three categories:
For example, if someone earns $50,000 in wages and $5,000 in rental income, their gross income would be $55,000. If they have $10,000 in allowable deductions, their adjusted gross income would be $45,000. Finally, if their taxable income is subject to a 20% tax rate, they would owe $9,000 in federal income taxes.