Areas of Practice: City-wide legal services to low-wage and immigrant workers. The Project handles employment matters in federal and state courts, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Personal exemptions for both taxpayers and dependents provide that only a personâs income above some defined basic level is subject to tax. This helps ensure that the poorest households are not subject to the income tax. In 2016, the personal exemption is $4,050. In 2013, tax filers reported $9.1 trillion in adjusted gross income (AGI) and claimed $1.1 trillion in personal exemptions (although, as explained below, not all exemptions could be fully utilized to reduce tax liability).
The 2017 personal exemption, at $4,050, is substantially lower both in real terms and relative to average incomes. But the tax code has added other features since 1913, such as the standard deduction and various tax credits that have partly offset the exemptionâs decline in value. The value of the personal exemption depends on an individualâs marginal tax rate. Think of it as a first tax bracket at a zero rate.