1,470 Millionaires Didn’t Pay Income Taxes in 2009

Newly released statistics from the Internal Revenue Service showed that close to 1,500 people who earned over $1 million in 2009 paid no income taxes.

The IRS data showed there were 236,883 taxpayers making $1 million or more in 2009, of whom 1,470 paid no federal income taxes, and 235,413 whose returns were taxable. Among the possible reasons, according to ABC News, could be write-offs for charitable deductions, investments in tax-exempt state and municipal bonds, or foreign tax credits.

In contrast, the average income for taxpayers fell that year in the wake of the financial crisis by $3,516 to $54,283, a drop of approximately 6.1 percent, according to the Huffington Post.

Meanwhile, unemployment claims climbed by nearly 2 million from 2008 to 2009, while the amount of benefits paid under unemployment almost doubled.

The number of 1040EZ forms that were filed in 2009 dropped 23 percent from 2008, indicating that many taxpayers who lost their jobs were no longer even filing their taxes.