Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

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by Adrian Dungan

or Tax Year 2015, there were approximately 25.2 million

individual income tax returns that reported nonfarm sole

proprietorship activity, a 2.4-percent increase from 2014.

Total nonfarm sole proprietorship profits rose to $331.8 billion in 2015, a 4.7-percent increase over the previous year. In

constant dollars, total profits increased by 3.5 percent for 2015.

Total profits as a percentage of business receipts were 23.0 percent for 2015, the second highest level in this data series which

begins with 1988. The largest percentage increase in profits was

reported by the real estate sector, which increased 15.1 percent

or $3.7 billion. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector accounted for 25.1 percent of total profits, the largest of any sector. Total profits in the sector rose to $83.3 billion,

a 6.5-percent increase for 2015.

For sole proprietorships as a whole, receipts increased 3.6

percent, while deductions increased 3.2 percent. The construction sector reported the largest percentages of total business

receipts (15.9 percent) and total business deductions (17.1 percent). The real estate sector reported the largest rise in business

receipts, with a 13.6-percent increase. The administrative support and waste management services sector experienced the

largest downturn in receipts, losing $3.2 billion or 4.3 percent.

The transportation and warehousing sector reported the largest

drop in deductions, with a decline of $2.9 billion or 3.2 percent.

Returns and Receipts

Between 2014 and 2015, the number of individual income tax

returns reporting nonfarm sole proprietorship activity increased

2.4 percent to 25.2 million (Figure A).1 The transportation

and warehousing sector had the largest percentage increase in

number of returns among all sectors for 2015 (25.0 percent).

No sector has experienced such a large percentage increase or

decrease since at least 1988. Growth in ride-sharing businesses,

such as Uber and Lyft, could have contributed to this large

Figure A

NonfarmSole

SoleProprietorship

ProprietorshipReturns,

Returns,Receipts,

Receipts,

and

Deductions,

Selected

Industrial

Sector,

Nonfarm

and

Deductions,

byby

Selected

Industrial

Sector,

Tax Years 2014 and 2015

Tax Years

and 2015 amounts are in billions of dollars]

[Number

of returns2014

is in thousands—money

[Number of returns is in thousands--money amounts are in billions of dollars]

Number of returns

Selected industrial sector

All nonfarm industries

Construction

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Retail trade

Transportation and warehousing

Finance and insurance

Real estate and rental and leasing

Professional, scientific, and technical services

Administrative and support and waste management

services

Health care and social assistance

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Other services

All other sectors

2014

Total business receipts

2015

Percentage

change

2014

Total business deductions [1]

2015

Percentage

change

2014

2015

Percentage

change

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

24,631.8

2,732.0

347.4

2,399.0

1,295.6

626.1

1,144.6

3,329.4

25,226.2

2,696.8

371.1

2,460.6

1,619.6

636.2

1,214.7

3,486.6

2.4

-1.3

6.8

2.6

25.0

1.6

6.1

4.7

1,393.9

213.2

57.1

187.9

105.9

81.0

68.1

180.9

1,443.6

229.7

58.0

184.8

102.8

90.1

77.4

196.3

3.6

7.7

1.7

-1.7

-2.9

11.1

13.6

8.5

1,078.5

177.9

52.2

177.4

91.1

60.7

43.8

102.8

1,112.8

189.7

53.0

173.5

88.2

69.7

49.3

113.1

6.7

1.5

-2.2

-3.2

14.9

12.7

10.0

2,639.8

2,145.7

1,545.6

3,269.8

3,156.9

2,472.0

2,181.4

1,499.7

3,512.2

3,075.4

-6.4

1.7

-3.0

7.4

-2.6

74.7

120.1

40.0

103.5

161.4

71.5

121.9

39.1

112.1

160.0

-4.3

1.5

-2.2

8.3

-0.9

52.4

70.6

30.3

76.1

143.3

50.7

72.1

29.7

82.7

141.1

3.2

-3.2

2.1

-1.9

8.7

-1.5

[1] Total business deductions are calculated before subtraction of nonallowable "passive" activity losses and inclusion of any "passive loss" carryover from prior years.

NOTES: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Percentages were calculated before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

For 2015, the 25,226,245 nonfarm sole proprietorship returns accounted for an estimated 28,311,383 nonfarm businesses. For purposes of the statistics, if a proprietor owned more than one

Figure A

Adrian Dungan

business,

the- statistics

for each business were combined with those of the proprietor’s dominant business and included in the industrial group for that business activity. When this occurred, the

sum of net incomes (for businesses reporting a positive net income) reduced by the sum of net deficits (for businesses reporting a deficit) yielded the profits for a specific industrial group.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was used to classify data by industries for 2015.

These classifications were applied on a “per business” (rather than on a “per establishment”) basis for Statistics of Income by combining various industry groups, although businesses were

further combined as described above.

While the wording of the industry titles used for the sole proprietorship statistics diverge somewhat from those appearing in NAICS, the definitions are consistent.

The North American Industry Classification System for industrial coding was introduced in Tax Year 1998. Prior to 1998 industries were classified using the Standard Industrial Classification

(SIC). Due to coding changes, comparisons between data by industry from 1998 through 2015 with 1997 and prior years may show inconsistencies. A reason for this was that several types of

sole proprietorships under the NAICS system were classified in completely different industrial groups, which makes prior-year comparisons under the SIC system inappropriate. For example, in

1997, finance, insurance, and real estate were classified as one industry under the SIC system, while, under the NAICS system, the group has been split into two industrial sectors. The industrial

sectors based on the NAICS codes are reported in Tables 1 and 2.

Statistics of Income Bulletin | Fall 2017

www.irs.gov/taxstats

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

increase in the number of returns with transportation and warehousing income. The sector with the largest number of returns

was the other services sector, mainly comprised of personal and

laundry services, which had a 7.4-percent increase to 3.5 million

returns.

Total business receipts (the sum of “income from sales and

operations” and “other business income”) for all nonfarm sole

proprietorship industries increased 3.6 percent, from $1,393.9

billion to $1,443.6 billion.2 The industry with the largest percentage gain in business receipts for 2015 was the real estate

sector with an increase of 13.6 percent. The finance and insurance sector had the second largest percentage gain, increasing

by 11.1 percent from $81.0 billion to $90.1 billion. Construction

experienced the largest dollar increase in receipts, which rose by

$16.4 billion. The industry that showed the largest decrease in

business receipts for 2015 was the administrative support and

waste management services sector, which declined by 4.3 percent. In constant dollar terms, total business receipts for nonfarm

sole proprietorships in 2015 increased 2.5 percent to $1,312.4

billion (Figure B),3 still below the peak level of $1,360.6 billion

for 2007.

The cost of sales and operations, which represented 38.8

percent of total 2015 business deductions ($431.7 billion), increased 3.6 percent from 2014 (Figure C). Total business “expenses” (total business deductions minus the cost of sales and

operations) were $681.1 billion for 2015, a 2.9-percent increase

from the 2014 amount. The main components of total business

expenses are highlighted in Figure D. The two largest components were car and truck expenses accounting for $89.8 billion

(13.2 percent) and salaries and wages accounting for $89.4 billion (13.1 percent).

Historically, constant dollar depreciation increased almost

every year from 1993 through 2003.6 From 2004 to 2012, it generally declined (Figure E), but it increased between 2012 and

2015. Increases in 2003, 2008, and 2010 coincided with legislative changes to section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code

that substantially impacted the amount of certain investment

property that could be expensed in a given year (rather than

depreciated over time). Under the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief

Reconciliation Act of 2003, the maximum allowable section

179 deduction vaulted from $24,000 for 2002 to $100,000 for

2003. The change led to a constant dollar depreciation increase

of 11.7 percent for 2003, which was the highest growth in depreciation of any year between 1988 and 2015. But the initial jump

in depreciation was followed in subsequent years by trends

of decreased depreciation, which is consistent with deductions being accelerated into the year of expensing. From 2004

through 2007, constant dollar declines of depreciation were reported for all 4 years. This downward trend was pronounced in

2005, as constant dollar depreciation fell by 11.7 percent, followed by decreases of 3.2 percent in 2006 and 1.0 percent in

2007. During this same 4-year period, section 179 limits gradually increased for inflation, finally rising to $125,000 for 2007.7

For 2008, the section 179 limit was doubled to $250,000, and

Deductions

Total business deductions (“cost of sales and operations” plus

business expenses, including expenses for home office) in current dollars increased 3.2 percent from $1,078.5 billion for 2014

to $1,112.8 billion for 2015 (Figure A).4, 5 In constant dollars,

total business deductions increased 2.1 percent for 2015.

Deductions for the construction sector, the largest sector in

terms of total business deductions, increased 6.7 percent from

$177.9 billion for 2014 to $189.7 billion for 2015. The finance

and insurance sector had the largest percentage increase of total

business deductions, increasing 14.9 percent to $69.7 billion.

Statistics for “business receipts, total” in Table 2 represent the total receipts of the business, mainly gross receipts from sales and operations. Business receipts also include miscellaneous business receipts, such as incidental sales of scrap, shown separately in the statistics as “other business income.” However, business receipts exclude incidental investment income received through

the business. Examples of such incidental investment income are interest, dividends, income or loss from rents or royalties, and capital or ordinary gain or loss from the sale of investment and

business property. Sole proprietors report incidental investment income, in combination with nonbusiness related investment income, as part of their total income on their individual income tax

returns.

Based on the overall implicit price deflator for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Survey of Current Business. Indices used

for this article were:

Year

Indices

Year

Indices

Year

Indices

Year

Indices

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

61.982

64.392

66.773

68.996

70.569

72.248

73.785

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

75.324

76.699

78.012

78.859

80.065

81.887

83.754

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

85.039

86.735

89.12

91.988

94.814

97.337

99.246

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

100

101.221

103.311

105.214

106.913

108.828

109.998

Sole proprietors report personal, i.e., nonbusiness, income and expense items apart from business income or loss, which is reported on the attached Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business

(or, to a lesser extent, on Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit From Business). Salaries paid to owners are neither deducted as wages paid on Schedule C nor included as wages received on the Form 1040.

Similarly, sole proprietors deduct charitable contributions made through the business as personal expenses on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions. However, the owner of a sole proprietorship

may choose to deduct any foreign taxes paid as a business expense, unless the owner elects to claim these taxes as a credit against U.S. income tax.

Business deductions include the home office business deductions. After 1990, home office expenses were calculated separately on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, and

the deductible portion brought forward to the Schedule C. In some cases, these expenses were limited. Starting with 2013, sole proprietors could also use a simplified method to determine these

costs by reporting on the Schedule C square footage (up to 300 square feet) used for the home office. The taxpayer then could take $5 per square foot as the expense. Prior to 1990, these expenses

were not limited and were included with other expenses, such as depreciation deductions, utilities, and “other” expenses on Schedule C.

Under section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, the cost of certain tangible property may be treated as a current expense rather than a capital expenditure subject to depreciation deductions.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA93) increased the maximum amount of investment that could immediately be deducted on property placed in service after 1992, from

$10,000 to $17,500. The increase in the constant dollar depreciation deductions for 1993, and subsequent decline in 1995, may be attributed, in part, to this provision of OBRA93. Following the

enactment of this provision, the 179 deduction for all individuals (not just sole proprietors) filing Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, increased 32.4 percent to $13.5 billion for 1993.

Under the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the maximum amount of a section 179 deduction increased from $24,000 for 2002 to $100,000 for 2003; $102,000 for 2004;

$105,000 for 2005; and $108,000 for 2006. This was further expanded to $125,000 for 2007 by the Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 (PL 110-28). The Jobs Creation and

Worker Assistance Act of 2002 introduced 30-percent bonus depreciation, and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 increased the bonus percentage to 50 percent, for

property placed in service by January 1, 2005. While bonus depreciation was available to sole proprietors, it was generally not as advantageous as immediate expensing and, therefore, likely

had less effect on their depreciation deductions.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Figure B

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorship Receipts, Deductions, and Profits, Tax Years 1988–2015

Nonfarm

Sole

Proprietorship

Receipts, Deductions, and Profits, Tax Years 1988–2015

[Money

amounts are

in billions

of dollars]

[Money amounts are in billions of dollars]

Total business receipts

Tax year

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Total business deductions [1]

Constant dollars [2]

Current

dollars

Amount

Percentage

change

(1)

(2)

672.0

692.8

730.6

712.6

737.1

757.2

790.6

807.4

843.2

870.4

918.3

969.3

1,021.0

1,016.8

1,029.7

1,050.2

1,139.5

1,222.9

1,278.4

1,324.4

1,317.4

1,178.4

1,195.5

1,265.9

1,301.6

1,341.6

1,393.9

1,443.6

1,084.2

1,075.9

1,094.2

1,032.8

1,044.5

1,048.1

1,071.5

1,071.9

1,099.4

1,115.7

1,164.4

1,210.7

1,246.8

1,214.1

1,210.8

1,278.6

1,329.4

1,348.3

1,360.6

1,327.5

1,178.4

1,181.1

1,225.4

1,237.1

1,254.8

1,280.8

1,312.4

Net income less deficit (profits)

Constant dollars [2]

Current

dollars

Amount

Percentage

change

(3)

(4)

(5)

[3]

-0.8

1.7

-5.6

1.1

0.3

2.2

[4]

2.6

1.5

4.4

4.0

3.0

-2.6

-0.3

[4]

5.6

4.0

1.4

0.9

-2.4

-11.2

0.2

3.7

1.0

1.4

2.1

2.5

545.7

560.2

589.2

571.2

583.1

600.8

623.8

638.1

666.5

683.9

716.2

761.4

806.4

799.6

808.9

820.2

892.4

953.4

1,001.1

1,044.3

1,053.7

934.5

929.0

984.2

997.6

1,040.4

1,078.5

1,112.8

880.4

870.0

882.4

827.9

826.3

831.5

845.5

847.2

868.9

876.6

908.1

951.0

984.8

954.7

951.2

945.6

1,001.3

1,036.4

1,055.9

1,072.9

1,061.7

934.5

917.8

952.7

948.1

973.1

991.0

1,011.7

Constant dollars [2]

Current

dollars

Amount

Percentage

change

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

[3]

-1.2

1.4

-6.2

-0.2

0.6

1.7

0.2

2.6

0.9

3.6

4.7

3.5

-3.0

-0.4

-0.6

5.9

3.5

1.9

1.6

-1.0

-12.0

-1.8

3.8

-0.5

2.6

1.8

2.1

126.3

132.7

141.4

141.5

154.0

156.5

166.8

169.3

176.8

186.6

202.3

207.9

214.7

217.4

221.1

230.3

247.6

269.9

278.0

280.6

264.5

244.8

267.7

282.6

304.9

302.3

317.1

331.8

203.8

206.1

211.8

205.1

218.2

216.6

226.1

224.7

230.5

239.3

256.5

259.7

262.2

259.6

260.0

265.5

277.8

293.4

293.2

288.2

266.5

244.8

264.5

273.6

289.8

282.7

291.3

301.7

[3]

1.1

2.8

-3.2

6.4

-0.8

4.4

-0.6

2.6

3.8

7.2

1.3

1.0

-1.0

0.2

2.1

4.6

5.6

-0.1

-1.7

-7.5

-8.1

8.0

3.4

5.9

-2.4

3.0

3.5

[1] Total business deductions are calculated before subtraction of nonallowable "passive" activity losses and any "passive loss" carryover from prior years. However, these losses (after subtraction) and any

carryover are reflected in net income less deficit. Therefore, total business receipts minus total business deductions may not always equal net income less deficit.

[2] Current dollars are the value of a dollar at the time it was measured. Constant dollars are based on the overall implicit price deflator for gross domestic product computed and reported by the U.S.

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, in the Survey of Current Business. The deflator represents the annual average of current-weighted prices, based on 2009 = 100.

[3] Not calculated.

[4] Less than 0.05 percent.

NOTE: Percentages were calculated before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

there was a 2.5-percent increase in constant dollar depreciation.

The $250,000 limit remained for 2009 and depreciation dropped

17.3 percent, which was the largest decrease since at least 1988.

For 2010, the section 179 limit was again doubled to $500,000,

and constant dollar depreciation increased but only by 0.4 percent from $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion. The limit was increased

as part of stimulus packages in response to the Great Recession.8

The section 179 limit remained $500,000 for Tax Years 2011

through 2015. For 2011, constant dollar depreciation dropped

by 0.7 percent and for 2012 it dropped another 5.6 percent down

to $32.5 billion, the lowest level over the 26 years of this study.

For 2015, constant dollar depreciation rose by 4 percent to $34.9

billion, the highest amount since 2008.

Beginning with Tax Year 1992, certain smaller businesses

could elect not to itemize depreciation and other business deductions by filing the Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business,

a simplified version of Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business.

(Schedules C and C-EZ are the sources of nonfarm sole

For 2008, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 increased the maximum expensing deduction under section 179 to $250,000. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 extended

that level through 2009. For all individual tax returns that filed Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, the Section 179 property deducted as an expense increased by 5.1 percent to $49.8

billion for 2008. For 2009, when the maximum 179 deduction remained at $250,000, the amount deducted for all returns decreased by 17.2 percent to $41.3 billion. The amount deducted as

section 179 property on returns that had a Schedule C dropped 19.6 percent to $16.2 billion between 2008 and 2009. For 2010, the amount taxpayers were able to deduct as section 179 property

increased to $500,000. This was in accordance with the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010. The amount deducted by returns with a Schedule C increased to $18.8 billion, representing

a 15.6-percent increase from 2009. For 2010, the amount deducted on all individual returns increased to $49.6 billion, a 20.3-percent increase from 2009. By 2015, this had increased to $71.7

billion. These numbers do not reflect depreciation solely deducted on the Schedule C, as this could also include depreciation taken on the Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, the Schedule

F, Profit or Loss from Farming, and the Form 4835, Farm Rental Income and Expenses.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Figure C

Components of Nonfarm Sole Proprietorship Business

Components

Nonfarm

Sole

Proprietorship

Deductions,

Taxof

Years

2014 and

2015

Figure D

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Components of Business

Expenses as a Percentage of Total Business Expenses,

Tax Year 2015

Business Deductions, Tax Years 2014 and 2015

[Money

amounts are in millions of dollars]

[Money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Business deductions

Business deductions, total [1]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Business expenses, total

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation [2]

Employee benefit programs

Home office business deductions [2]

Depreciation, Form 8829

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business

indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and

equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Salaries and wages

Supplies

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business expenses [3]

Schedule C-EZ business expenses

2014

2015

Percentage

change

(1)

(2)

(3)

1,078,490.0

416,840.5

41,257.8

33,097.1

256,014.3

56,559.5

73,156.6

43,244.8

661,649.5

14,999.7

92,320.0

14,236.3

53,539.8

898.4

36,568.9

3,007.7

9,469.9

1,234.8

18,707.9

12,058.7

9,539.2

3,190.3

1,112,822.8

431,691.7

41,587.9

36,945.5

264,670.3

61,108.3

70,954.4

43,574.8

681,131.1

15,771.7

89,810.4

16,754.2

54,170.6

475.5

38,432.8

2,928.2

9,817.4

1,228.2

19,513.5

12,847.0

9,913.8

3,253.6

3.2

3.6

0.8

11.6

3.4

8.0

-3.0

0.8

2.9

5.1

-2.7

17.7

1.2

-47.1

5.1

-2.6

3.7

-0.5

4.3

6.5

3.9

2.0

5,627.4

5,934.7

5.5

12,776.5

1,108.5

12,944.8

1,145.9

1.3

3.4

10,090.8

10,601.3

5.1

36,746.5

18,494.6

86,743.0

36,662.7

19,358.4

15,344.2

31,640.5

113,958.2

4,578.1

37,570.2

18,746.9

89,416.4

38,460.6

19,812.0

16,588.8

31,482.2

119,846.0

4,892.4

2.2

1.4

3.1

4.9

2.3

8.1

-0.5

5.2

6.9

Business expenses

Total interest

1.3

Office expenses

1.9

Advertising expenses

2.3

Travel

2.4

Commissions

2.5

Repairs

2.8

Insurance

2.9

Taxes paid

2.9

Utilities

4.6

Depreciation [1]

5.6

Supplies

5.6

Rent paid on machinery, equipment,

and other business property

7.1

Contract labor

8.0

Salaries and wages

13.1

Car and truck expenses

13.2

Other business deductions [2]

23.8

Percentage of total business expenses

[1] Depreciation claimed on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, is included in

“home office business deductions” and excluded from “depreciation” shown above. See footnote [2]

below.

[2] Includes depletion; employee benefit programs; legal and professional services; pension and

profit-sharing plans; meals and entertainment; home office; and other business expenses. Other

business deductions also includes all Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business, deductions ($4.9

billion).

NOTES: Total business expenses equals all business deductions minus cost of sales and

operations.

Percents are based on an estimated total business expense of $681.1 billion. Detail may not add to

100 percent because of rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

[1] Total business deductions are before subtraction of nonallowable "passive" activity losses and

any "passive loss" carryover from the prior years.

[2] Depreciation claimed on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, is included in

"home office business deductions" and excluded from "depreciation" shown above.

[3] Other business expenses includes some expenses from electronically filed Schedule C-EZ

returns.

NOTES: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Percentage increases were calculated

before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

deductions, the detailed deductions in Table 2, based only on

Schedule C returns, are slightly understated and do not sum to

the total deductions in Figure C.

For Tax Year 2015, approximately 5.4 million taxpayers

filed the Schedule C-EZ, marking a 7.9-percent increase from

the number filed for 2014. In the administrative and support and

waste management services sector (the sector with the highest

percentage of Schedule C-EZ filers), taxpayers filed 0.8 million

Schedule C-EZ returns, or 31.8 percent of the total sole proprietorship returns for that sector (Figure F).9 For 2015, business

receipts from Schedule C-EZ filers totaled $43.1 billion, or 3.0

percent of total business receipts reported. Business deductions

reported on Schedule C-EZ returns accounted for only 0.4 percent of total business deductions for all industries, or $4.9 billion of the total $1,112.8 billion. Despite having the largest concentration of Schedule C-EZ filers, the receipts and deductions

proprietorship statistics.) For Tax Year 2015, taxpayers could

use Schedule C-EZ if they: had business expenses of $5,000 or

less; used the cash accounting method; had no inventories; did

not report a loss from the business; had only one business as

a sole proprietor; had no employees; were not required to file

Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, for the business;

claimed no deduction for home business expenses; and had no

prior-year disallowed passive activity losses from the business.

Since taxpayers using Schedule C-EZ did not itemize business

Based on the NAICS system, the full name of the administrative and support services sector is administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector. The waste

management and remediation services portion make up a small percentage of the overall numbers reported under this classification, which are detailed in Table 1.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Figure E

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorship Net Income, Deficit, and Depreciation, Tax Years 1988–2015

[Money amounts are in billions of dollars]

Tax

year

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Current dollars [1]

Constant dollars [1]

Percentage change in constant dollars [1]

Net income

Deficit

Depreciation [2]

Net income

Deficit

Depreciation [2]

Net income

Deficit

Depreciation [2]

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

145.5

152.4

161.7

162.4

173.5

177.0

187.8

191.7

200.1

210.5

226.2

233.4

245.2

250.2

257.3

269.1

290.5

314.8

326.8

335.1

325.3

308.9

323.2

337.0

357.1

357.4

374.5

392.1

19.2

19.7

20.2

20.9

19.5

20.5

21.0

22.5

23.4

23.8

23.9

25.5

30.5

32.8

36.2

38.8

42.9

44.8

48.7

54.5

60.8

64.1

55.5

54.3

52.2

55.1

57.5

60.3

26.1

24.5

23.7

23.1

23.3

25.0

26.2

27.4

28.6

29.1

30.6

32.2

33.4

36.6

41.8

42.9

39.1

39.0

39.6

41.4

34.5

35.1

35.6

34.2

35.4

36.6

38.4

234.7

236.7

242.2

235.4

245.9

245.0

254.5

260.9

269.8

286.8

291.5

299.5

298.7

302.6

310.2

325.9

342.2

344.6

344.3

327.7

308.9

319.3

326.2

339.4

334.3

344.2

356.5

[3]

0.8

2.3

-2.8

4.5

-0.4

3.9

0.0

2.5

3.4

6.3

1.6

2.7

-0.3

1.3

2.5

5.1

5.0

0.7

-0.1

-4.8

-5.8

3.4

2.2

4.0

-1.5

2.9

3.6

[3]

-1.2

-1.1

0.1

-8.8

2.7

0.3

4.8

2.1

0.2

-0.7

4.8

17.2

5.1

8.7

5.1

7.7

1.2

5.5

9.0

9.3

4.7

-14.4

-4.1

-5.7

4.0

2.4

3.8

[3]

-9.6

-6.7

-5.7

-1.4

4.8

2.6

-1.9

2.4

2.8

0.7

3.6

2.7

1.5

8.0

11.7

-0.0

-11.7

-3.2

-1.0

2.5

-17.3

0.4

-0.7

-5.6

1.7

1.5

4.0

31.0

30.6

30.3

27.6

28.4

28.5

29.8

30.5

30.3

31.8

37.3

39.2

42.5

44.7

48.2

48.7

51.4

56.0

61.2

64.1

54.8

52.6

49.6

51.6

52.8

54.8

42.1

38.0

35.5

33.5

33.0

34.6

35.5

34.8

35.7

36.7

36.9

38.3

39.3

39.9

43.1

48.1

42.5

41.1

40.7

41.8

34.5

34.7

34.5

32.5

33.1

33.6

34.9

[1] Current dollars is the value of a dollar at the time it was measured. Constant dollars is based on the overall implicit price deflator for gross domestic product computed and reported by the U.S.

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, in the Survey of Current Business. The deflator represents the annual average of current-weighted prices, based on 2009 = 100.

[2] Excludes depreciation claimed on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home.

[3] Not calculated.

NOTE: Percentage changes were calculated before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Figure F

All Nonfarm Sole Proprietorship Returns and Those with Schedule C-EZ, by Selected Industrial Sector, Tax Year 2015

All Nonfarm

Proprietorship

Returns

and ofThose

[Number

of returns isSole

in thousands—money

amounts

are in millions

dollars] with Schedule C-EZ, by Selected Industrial Sector, Tax Year 2015

[Number of returns is in thousands, money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Selected industrial sector

Number of returns

Total business receipts

Total

With

Schedule

C-EZ

Percentage

of total

Schedule

C-EZ

Percentage

of total

(5)

(6)

Total

(4)

Total business deductions [1]

Total

Schedule

C-EZ

Percentage

of total

(7)

(8)

(9)

(1)

(2)

(3)

All nonfarm industries

25,226.2

5,391.7

21.4

1,443,585.0

43,066.4

3.0

1,112,822.8

4,892.4

0.4

Construction

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Retail trade

Transportation and warehousing

Finance and insurance

Real estate and rental and leasing

Professional, scientific, and technical services

Administrative and support and waste

management services

Health care and social assistance

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Other services

All other sectors

2,696.8

371.1

2,460.6

1,619.6

636.2

1,214.7

3,486.6

487.7

42.2

354.2

259.5

76.8

124.3

627.2

18.1

11.4

14.4

16.0

12.1

10.2

18.0

229,686.2

58,023.6

184,752.9

102,761.7

90,052.4

77,364.5

196,280.7

4,859.2

297.0

2,190.0

1,570.8

810.2

1,611.0

6,866.0

2.1

0.5

1.2

1.5

0.9

2.1

3.5

189,743.7

52,978.7

173,475.6

88,161.0

69,741.2

49,321.5

113,100.9

511.3

21.5

288.6

298.4

89.5

197.7

622.3

0.3

[2]

0.2

0.3

0.1

0.4

0.6

2,472.0

2,181.4

1,499.7

3,512.2

3,075.4

786.8

585.5

351.3

851.1

845.3

31.8

26.8

23.4

24.2

27.5

71,549.7

121,896.9

39,117.9

112,054.6

160,044.0

5,774.4

5,910.7

1,624.2

7,125.7

4,427.3

8.1

4.8

4.2

6.4

2.8

50,703.6

72,052.2

29,726.7

82,716.8

141,100.9

657.4

505.0

281.1

885.8

533.7

1.3

0.7

0.9

1.1

0.4

[1] Total business deductions are calculated before subtraction of nonallowable "passive" activity losses and any "passive loss" carryover from prior years.

[2] Less than 0.05 percent.

NOTES: Certain smaller sole proprietorships could elect not to itemize business expenses by filing Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business. See the text of this article for a full list of the requirements to be eligible to file Schedule C-EZ.

Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Percentages were calculated before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

from Schedule C-EZ filers in the administrative and support and

waste management services sector accounted for only 8.1 percent of that sector’s total business receipts and 1.3 percent of

that sector’s total business deductions.

Figure G

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorship Profits, by Selected Industrial

Sector, Tax Years 2014 and 2015

[Money amounts are in billions of dollars]

Profits and Losses

2014

Percentage

change

(3)

2015

(1)

(2)

All nonfarm industries

317.1

331.8

4.7

Construction

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Retail trade

Transportation and warehousing

Finance and insurance

Real estate and rental and leasing

Professional, scientific, and technical

services

Administrative and support and waste

management services

Health care and social assistance

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Other services

All other industries

35.6

4.9

10.7

14.9

20.4

24.5

40.0

5.1

11.4

14.6

20.4

28.2

12.5

4.3

5.8

-1.8

[1]

15.1

78.2

83.3

6.5

22.4

20.9

-6.7

49.5

10.0

27.5

18.5

49.9

9.5

29.4

19.2

0.8

-5.2

7.2

3.7

[1] Less than 0.05 percent.

NOTES: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Percentage changes were calculated

before rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Figure H

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Selected Industrial Sector

Profits as a Percentage of Total Profits, Tax Year 2015

Selected industrial sector

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Limited Liability Companies

Tax Year 2001 was the first year for which data became available on the number of limited liability companies (LLCs) among

nonfarm sole proprietorship returns. LLC entities have limited

liability (like corporations), but they may be taxed as sole proprietorships (for which income and expenses flow through to

the owner to be taxed), if they are owned by a single individual.

For 2001, there were 126,437 sole proprietorship returns that indicated status as an LLC or just 0.7 percent of total sole proprietorship returns (Figure J). In contrast, for Tax Year 2015, there

were 1,715,430 such sole proprietorships, which accounted for

6.8 percent of the total nonfarm sole proprietorship returns, a

13-fold increase since 2001. The share of total nonfarm sole proprietorship business receipts attributed to LLCs has also risen

during this period from approximately 2.3 percent for 2001,

to 24.5 percent for 2015 (Figure K). Similarly, the portion of

total net income (less deficit) of all nonfarm sole proprietorships

Net income less deficit (profits)

Selected industrial sector

For 2015, of the 12 industrial sectors analyzed, 9 of them reported increased sole proprietorship profits (net income less

deficit). Figure B presents total profits for all industries (in both

current and constant dollars) since 1988, while Figures G and

H present profits by industrial sector for 2014 and 2015.10 Total

profits increased 4.7 percent from $317.1 billion for 2014 to

$331.8 billion for 2015. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector reported the largest percentage of total profits of all nonfarm sole proprietorships, with 25.1 percent ($83.3

billion), and had a 6.5-percent increase in profits for 2015. The

second largest sector by profits, health care and social assistance, also reported an increase in profits, rising 0.8 percent to

$49.9 billion. The largest percentage increase in profits was realized in the real estate sector, which jumped 15.1 percent for a

gain of $3.7 billion.

In constant dollars, total profits rose by 3.5 percent for 2015

(Figure B). Figure I shows net income less deficits as a percentage of business receipts for 1988 through 2015. In general, this

percentage has increased over time from a low of 18.8 percent

for 1988, the exceptions being the periods leading up to the recession in the early 2000’s and the Great Recession starting in

2008. Since 2010, net income less deficit as a percentage of total

business receipts has been between 22.4 percent (2010) and 23.4

percent (2012); for 2015, it was 23.0 percent. Figure E presents net income and deficit separately for 1988 through 2015, in

current and constant dollars. For 2015, net income (in constant

dollars) increased by 3.6 percent and deficit (in constant dollars)

increased by 3.8 percent.

1.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

2.9

Retail trade

3.4

Transportation and warehousing

4.4

All other industries

5.8

Finance and insurance

6.1

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services

6.3

Real estate and rental and leasing

8.5

Other services

8.9

Construction

12.1

Health care and social assistance

15.0

Professional, scientific, and technical services

25.1

Percentage of total profits

NOTES: Percentages are based on estimated total profits of $331.8 billion.

Detail may not add to 100 percent because of rounding.

Profits is a designation for “net income less deficit,” shown elsewhere in this article.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Net income minus deficit (loss) before Federal income tax yields profits. Proprietors compute their tax on total “taxable income,” which includes their business profits, plus any other income.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Figure I

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Net Income Less Deficit (Profits) as a Percentage of Total Business Receipts, Tax Years 1988–2015

Percentage

23.4

22.7

23.0

22.4

22.0

21.5

21.4

20.9

21.1

20.7

21.4

21.2

21.0

20.8

19.9

19.2

22.5

21.7

21.5

21.0 21.0

22.3

22.1

21.9

20.1

19.4

19 18.8

1988

1989 1990

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Tax year

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Figure J

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Number of Returns Filed by Those Registered as Limited Liability Companies (LLCs),

Tax Years 2001–2015

Tax year

2015

1,715,430

2014

1,619,099

2013

1,474,592

2012

1,324,196

2011

1,125,132

2010

1,059,910

2009

991,809

2008

842,819

2007

746,885

2006

606,889

2005

455,734

2004

309,665

2003

220,615

2002

145,839

2001

126,437

200,00

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

Number of returns filed by nonfarm sole proprietorships registered as LLCs

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

attributable to LLCs increased from 1.0 percent for 2001 to 13.7

percent for 2015.

the finance and insurance sector having the largest percentage

increase in deductions at 14.9 percent.

Summary

Data Sources and Limitations

Profits for the 25.2 million returns with sole proprietorship activity for Tax Year 2015 increased by 4.7 percent from 2014, to

a level of $331.8 billion. In constant dollars, total nonfarm sole

proprietorship profits for 2015 increased 3.5 percent. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector had the largest

profits of any sector, at $83.3 billion, representing 25.1 percent

of total sole proprietorship profits, followed by the health care

and social assistance sector, at $49.9 billion or 15.0 percent of

total profits. The largest percentage increases in profits were

by real estate (15.1 percent) and construction (12.5 percent).

The professional, scientific, and technical services sector experienced the largest increase in dollar value for profits, gaining

$5.1 billion. For all sole proprietorships, business receipts increased 3.6 percent, and the largest industrial sector, based on

business receipts, was the construction sector, accounting for

15.9 percent of total business receipts (Figure L). Real estate

had the largest percentage increase in receipts at 13.6 percent.

In terms of dollar amount, the retail trade sector and administrative support and waste management services sector both experienced the largest downturn in receipts from 2014 to 2015.

Both sectors dropped $3.2 billion in total business receipts. For

all sole proprietorships, deductions increased 3.2 percent with

The 2015 sole proprietorship estimates are based on a stratified

probability sample of unaudited individual income tax returns,

Form 1040 (including electronically filed returns), processed

by the Internal Revenue Service during Calendar Year 2016.

Returns in the sample were stratified based on: (1) the presence

or absence of Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business (Sole

Proprietorship), or Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit From Business,

and Schedule F, Farm Income and Expenses; (2) the larger

of positive income or negative income (i.e., “adjusted gross

income” before statutory adjustments); and (3) tax year. The returns were selected at rates that ranged from 0.1 percent to 100

percent. The 2015 nonfarm sole proprietorship data are based on

a sample of 90,765 returns and a population of 25,571,122 returns.11 The corresponding data for 2014 were based on a sample

of 91,665 returns and a population of 25,010,078 returns.

Since the data presented in this article are estimates based on

a sample of returns filed, they are subject to sampling error. To

properly use the statistical data estimates provided, the magnitude of the potential sampling error must be known; coefficients

of variation (CVs) are used to measure that magnitude. Figure M

presents estimated coefficients of variation for total business receipts, total business deductions, depreciation, net income, and

Figure K

All Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships and Those Registered as Limited Liability Companies (LLCs): Number of Returns, Business Receipts,

Number

of Returns,

Receipts, and Profits for All Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships and Those Registered As Limited Liabil

and

Profits,

Tax YearsBusiness

2001–2015

Tax Years

2001

- 2015

[Money

amounts are

in millions

of dollars]

[Money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Number of returns

Tax

year

All nonfarm

sole

proprietorships

Nonfarm sole

proprietorships

registered

as LLCs

(1)

(2)

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

18,338,190

18,925,517

19,710,079

20,590,691

21,467,566

22,074,953

23,122,698

22,614,483

22,659,976

23,003,656

23,426,940

23,553,850

24,074,684

24,631,831

25,226,245

126,437

145,839

220,615

309,665

455,734

606,889

746,885

842,819

991,809

1,059,910

1,125,132

1,324,196

1,474,592

1,619,099

1,715,430

Total business receipts

LLCs as

a percentage

of all

nonfarm sole

proprietorships

All nonfarm

sole

proprietorships

Nonfarm sole

proprietorships

registered

as LLCs

Net income less deficit

LLCs as

a percentage

of all

nonfarm sole

proprietorships

All nonfarm

sole

proprietorships

Nonfarm sole

proprietorships

registered

as LLCs

LLCs as

a percentage

of all

nonfarm sole

proprietorships

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

0.7

0.8

1.1

1.5

2.1

2.7

3.2

3.7

4.4

4.6

4.8

5.6

6.1

6.6

6.8

1,016,834,678

1,029,691,760

1,050,202,446

1,139,523,760

1,222,880,231

1,278,359,791

1,324,403,080

1,317,443,005

1,178,437,093

1,195,538,629

1,265,939,196

1,301,569,749

1,341,571,082

1,393,884,201

1,443,584,972

23,357,818

39,239,656

55,626,849

82,850,651

119,603,018

151,746,232

185,837,712

205,646,039

205,194,197

220,116,934

244,024,850

291,350,534

316,224,871

342,093,644

370,123,809

2.3

3.8

5.3

7.3

9.8

11.9

14.0

15.6

17.4

18.4

19.3

22.4

23.6

24.5

25.6

217,385,116

221,113,286

230,308,100

247,567,189

269,919,995

278,032,643

280,557,010

264,508,362

244,821,815

267,699,702

282,649,926

304,895,911

302,269,621

317,058,087

331,832,538

2,259,135

3,378,774

3,847,617

6,743,666

10,902,821

14,270,523

16,235,182

18,215,151

18,522,837

23,915,511

27,093,827

35,841,019

37,151,475

43,427,440

48,902,901

1.0

1.5

1.7

2.7

4.0

5.1

5.8

6.9

7.6

8.9

9.6

11.8

12.3

13.7

14.7

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

The difference between the number of returns in the population and the total number of returns in Tables 1 and 2 is mainly due to returns in which Schedule C income was moved to other

income or wages to avoid double counting of taxpayers for Gross Domestic Product calculations. In addition, data from amended and tentative returns are not reflected in these statistics.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

deficit by selected industrial sector. Generally, the smaller the

coefficient of variation, the more reliable the estimate is judged

to be. The SOI Sampling Methodology and Data Limitations

section of the Bulletin, available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irssoi/sampling.pdf, discusses the reliability of estimates based on

samples and the use of coefficients of variation for evaluating

the precision of estimates based on samples.

Figure L

Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Selected Industrial Sector

Receipts as a Percentage of Total Business Receipts,

Tax Year 2015

Selected industrial sector

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

2.7

Wholesale trade (merchant

wholesalers)

Adrian Dungan is an economist with the Individual Special Studies Section.

This article was prepared under the direction of Michael Weber, Chief,

with technical assistance provided by Michael Strudler, Chief, Individual

Returns Processing and Data Perfection Section.

4.0

Administrative and support and waste

management and remediation services

5.0

Real estate and rental and leasing

5.4

Finance and insurance

6.2

Transportation and warehousing

7.1

Other services

7.8

Health care and social assistance

8.4

All other industries

11.1

Retail trade

12.8

Professional, scientific, and

technical services

13.6

Construction

15.9

Percentage

NOTES: Percentages are based on estimated total business receipts of $1.4 trillion. Detail may not

add to 100 percent because of rounding.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Figure M

NonfarmSole

SoleProprietorships:

Proprietorships:Coefficients

Coefficients

of Variation

Selected

Items,

by Selected

Industrial

Nonfarm

of Variation

forfor

Selected

Items,

by Selected

Industrial

Sector, Tax Year 2015

Sector, ofTax

Year

2015

[Coefficients

variation

are in

percentages]

[Coefficients of variation are in percentages]

Coefficients of variation

Industrial sector

All industries

Construction

Wholesale trade

Retail trade

Transportation and warehousing

Finance and insurance

Real estate and rental leasing

Professional, scientific, and

technical services

Administrative and support and waste

management services

Health care and social assistance

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Other services

All other industries

(

Total business

receipts

Total business

deductions

Depreciation [1]

Net income

Deficit

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

0.56

2.04

4.18

2.24

2.66

1.98

2.64

0.63

2.15

4.25

2.25

2.66

1.86

2.84

1.51

4.06

9.25

5.35

4.53

8.51

5.70

0.73

2.42

6.77

3.48

3.52

3.63

3.22

1.46

5.76

9.91

4.00

6.06

6.68

5.25

1.68

2.04

4.39

1.90

4.53

2.98

1.90

3.48

2.47

2.13

3.51

2.12

3.64

2.79

2.16

7.20

4.73

8.10

5.91

3.52

2.92

2.27

4.23

2.50

2.89

6.54

6.96

5.64

5.20

3.51

[1] Excludes depreciation claimed on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home.

SOURCE: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, July 2017.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with and without net income

Industrial sector

All nonfarm industries

Agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing

Animal production (including breeding of cats and dogs)

Number

of returns

Business

receipts

(1)

(2)

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

deduction [1,2]

and

equipment [1]

(3)

25,226,245 1,443,584,972

(4)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

(5)

(6)

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

less deficit

(7)

(8)

39,661,004

10,601,311

37,570,230

9,188,381

126,361,910

331,832,538

269,704

21,580,554

1,989,805

168,386

198,663

219,987

1,888,165

1,364,994

44,625

1,675,720

233,484

7,428

27,889

32,090

126,634

-386,676

Forestry and logging (including forest nurseries,

timber tracts)

52,006

5,420,278

711,327

61,763

7,032

64,651

355,497

402,644

Fishing, hunting, and trapping

66,144

3,351,232

387,518

37,769

81,118

45,965

109,146

428,393

Support activities for agriculture and forestry

106,930

11,133,324

657,476

61,426

82,624

77,281

1,296,887

920,632

134,638

9,306,426

796,598

88,893

79,618

206,759

862,637

553,002

109,099

6,046,578

530,261

34,922

58,085

169,212

270,172

30,474

Other mining

6,239

647,678

63,397

13,592

6,413

14,661

143,213

15,695

Support activities for mining

19,300

2,612,171

202,940

40,378

15,120

22,886

449,252

506,832

Mining

Oil and gas extraction

Utilities

20,235

924,882

82,512

22,102

13,781

10,180

23,216

41,715

2,696,797

229,686,192

6,118,898

1,165,228

1,698,123

1,049,440

27,002,287

40,030,430

Construction of buildings

622,635

66,392,857

1,139,438

268,798

332,812

306,847

7,228,308

9,410,793

Heavy and civil engineering construction

38,439

7,567,237

583,983

74,884

47,754

107,165

907,989

611,747

2,035,724

155,726,097

4,395,477

821,547

1,317,557

635,428

18,865,989

30,007,890

Construction

Specialty trade contractors

Manufacturing

380,959

33,903,588

1,175,925

143,382

903,364

331,019

4,103,545

3,762,370

Food manufacturing

54,971

5,377,616

198,653

14,088

218,531

114,380

641,243

162,602

Textile and textile product mills

13,115

532,763

18,121

* 23,702

* 2,663

* 72,418

54,582

Apparel

22,701

972,743

35,462

** 10,922

44,149

8,950

72,511

107,717

Leather and allied products

Wood products

Paper products

Printing and related support activities

6,038

176,370

3,908

* 2,678

* 73

* 29,180

37,990

** 31,955

** 3,794,505

** 122,269

** 5,982

** 80,229

** 32,281

** 374,717

** 416,498

31,950

2,085,533

92,137

13,517

74,582

16,761

188,005

186,646

Petroleum and coal products

1,030

528,116

* 3,263

* 3,098

* 5,990

* 148

* 82,674

18,578

Chemical manufacturing

15,976

1,386,552

46,266

3,397

16,074

7,893

158,679

214,481

Plastic and rubber products

3,188

759,727

17,134

2,762

5,408

6,403

37,942

133,968

Nonmetallic mineral products

9,178

1,023,181

51,367

7,541

9,334

12,532

85,045

121,936

Primary metal industries

2,781

770,125

* 16,984

* 22,038

* 2,644

* 71,395

63,839

Fabricated metal products

36,733

4,376,694

164,106

** 35,402

79,448

40,077

638,590

557,860

Machinery

24,012

1,829,677

80,801

4,767

48,881

9,932

257,125

252,530

Computer and electronic products

16,891

667,712

63,772

* 11,656

* 12,330

* 7,254

45,174

59,065

Electrical equipment, appliances, and components

8,239

761,912

15,037

* 3,110

40,788

5,987

172,521

75,320

Transportation equipment

11,931

1,067,202

16,002

* 5,052

30,264

5,479

173,181

34,272

Furniture and related products

23,881

2,318,745

59,815

* 3,512

45,448

19,951

347,495

499,728

66,390

5,474,416

170,827

18,576

143,490

38,544

655,651

764,759

371,148

58,023,627

708,226

284,200

844,734

263,778

2,572,739

5,071,951

Miscellaneous manufacturing

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Durable goods, including machinery, wood,

metals, etc.

189,507

29,317,164

397,654

195,982

430,414

130,478

1,504,317

2,943,721

Nondurable goods, including food, fiber, chemicals, etc.

142,190

25,045,757

282,572

79,472

360,246

126,160

909,384

1,673,860

Wholesale electronic markets and agents and brokers

39,451

3,660,706

28,000

8,746

54,074

7,141

159,038

454,370

2,460,635

184,752,906

2,616,699

541,738

5,786,798

1,142,985

9,628,578

11,360,234

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

132,250

37,635,397

361,906

60,000

525,524

242,757

1,426,821

1,251,582

Furniture and home furnishing stores

25,876

2,954,134

43,598

17,957

140,743

35,019

289,157

299,957

Electronic stores and household appliance stores

13,704

2,233,038

37,804

19,148

59,053

9,356

171,169

151,288

Building material and garden equipment and supplies

dealers

26,585

6,784,281

153,969

14,327

83,657

48,632

627,085

414,917

Food and beverage stores

92,538

26,935,363

283,809

102,480

996,687

104,840

1,848,560

747,211

Health and personal care stores

136,758

8,923,329

80,966

27,631

287,825

27,503

657,291

803,211

Gasoline stations

16,546

17,521,652

192,826

18,146

261,847

97,711

819,203

334,160

Clothing and accessories stores

164,182

9,149,962

152,478

21,645

760,734

53,841

642,099

602,268

Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores

104,898

6,342,421

123,128

12,344

299,642

64,218

401,993

316,647

General merchandise stores

28,966

3,799,649

74,878

7,340

157,628

15,910

149,878

223,775

618,370

29,286,938

539,907

130,769

1,684,701

250,056

1,858,235

2,399,449

1,099,962

33,186,741

571,432

109,952

528,757

193,144

737,088

3,815,769

Retail trade

Miscellaneous store retailers

Nonstore retailers

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with net income

Industrial sector

All nonfarm industries

Agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing

Animal production (including breeding of cats and dogs)

Number

of returns

Business

receipts

(9)

(10)

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

(11)

18,784,750 1,236,419,550

(12)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

(13)

(14)

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

(15)

(16)

25,368,501

8,305,956

28,955,085

5,773,984

102,383,686

392,114,132

162,932

17,358,619

1,176,052

119,442

132,304

123,367

1,429,957

2,861,307

15,058

1,172,805

97,775

* 4,856

13,924

7,204

107,819

160,882

Forestry and logging (including forest nurseries,

timber tracts)

34,903

4,397,941

486,540

34,768

5,751

47,389

208,357

603,345

Fishing, hunting, and trapping

38,197

2,693,902

213,730

30,533

68,110

25,137

37,995

718,558

Support activities for agriculture and forestry

74,775

9,093,972

378,007

49,284

44,519

43,637

1,075,786

1,378,523

86,250

6,160,323

391,506

63,943

28,087

57,736

408,686

2,029,813

68,706

3,716,558

223,121

20,385

19,697

37,266

104,676

1,324,481

Mining

Oil and gas extraction

Other mining

3,787

420,310

39,277

11,482

* 1,033

5,779

76,372

92,407

Support activities for mining

13,756

2,023,455

129,108

32,075

7,358

14,691

227,639

612,925

Utilities

13,251

414,382

15,752

* 20,195

1,132

1,911

* 11,192

138,217

2,255,773

207,050,445

4,811,334

920,192

1,385,688

671,068

23,442,059

44,671,269

Construction of buildings

525,132

58,371,503

944,472

215,069

233,228

200,170

5,876,598

10,700,534

Heavy and civil engineering construction

24,543

5,781,889

405,562

40,178

38,057

60,941

556,512

1,017,041

1,706,098

142,897,054

3,461,301

664,944

1,114,402

409,957

17,008,949

32,953,693

Construction

Specialty trade contractors

Manufacturing

255,192

27,990,543

753,245

99,342

660,329

167,097

3,020,319

5,474,341

Food manufacturing

33,139

4,280,267

115,611

8,966

162,856

25,307

401,191

545,686

Textile and textile product mills

4,566

401,085

* 4,084

* 6,382

* 574

* 54,672

98,214

Apparel

14,231

878,198

33,407

** 7,085

** 41,279

7,678

** 62,412

220,220

Leather and allied products

Wood products

Paper products

Printing and related support activities

Petroleum and coal products

Chemical manufacturing

4,375

107,230

* 991

60,478

** 23,302

** 3,381,784

** 71,996

** 4,566

** 63,026

** 22,749

** 286,778

** 464,660

20,932

1,759,811

71,433

11,801

68,298

7,589

133,101

324,041

708

404,117

* 2,708

* 2,888

* 5,444

* 148

* 81,274

37,635

11,218

1,076,933

34,954

** 1,722

11,968

5,065

108,435

299,724

Plastic and rubber products

3,112

635,801

2,047

* 2,009

* 4,883

* 15,811

148,012

Nonmetallic mineral products

5,319

836,153

40,338

* 5,659

* 3,733

11,404

81,559

134,240

Primary metal industries

* 759

* 681,813

* 11,581

* 21,949

* 60,288

* 86,012

Fabricated metal products

28,720

3,805,463

139,006

** 32,968

58,147

** 33,578

546,953

649,092

Machinery

14,657

1,617,208

40,411

* 2,097

45,207

2,286

202,466

360,608

Computer and electronic products

11,478

637,905

* 53,287

** 8,448

* 8,804

* 1,155

* 41,832

127,658

141,292

Electrical equipment, appliances, and components

6,135

613,191

9,848

* 30,736

* 5,034

* 135,754

Transportation equipment

7,319

902,446

* 4,642

* 13,893

* 2,709

* 140,004

149,128

Furniture and related products

18,066

1,696,939

30,307

* 3,354

* 18,468

13,527

218,741

584,738

47,157

4,274,201

86,594

9,789

98,130

23,410

449,049

1,042,904

Wholesale trade (merchant wholesalers)

Miscellaneous manufacturing

228,243

48,155,851

392,613

224,649

585,088

150,606

1,853,048

6,748,135

Durable goods, including machinery,

wood, metals, etc.

124,224

24,824,776

180,579

169,687

329,704

68,975

1,037,727

3,783,680

Nondurable goods, including food, fiber, chemicals, etc.

82,997

20,635,025

189,367

46,495

230,487

76,803

716,194

2,236,505

Wholesale electronic markets and agents and brokers

21,022

2,696,050

22,667

8,467

24,897

4,829

99,126

727,951

1,357,591

150,886,928

1,351,025

395,660

3,826,149

703,257

7,070,337

19,771,114

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

87,472

31,563,002

201,416

46,605

391,418

162,937

1,159,779

2,033,275

Furniture and home furnishing stores

13,567

2,369,314

34,528

16,059

87,362

29,295

211,384

400,132

Electronic stores and household appliance stores

8,034

1,788,205

31,728

* 14,977

32,764

* 6,780

90,534

225,370

Building material and garden equipment and supplies

dealers

15,607

5,843,654

130,068

9,561

70,091

39,276

536,622

575,134

Food and beverage stores

59,840

21,620,317

171,628

82,480

701,468

62,984

1,346,703

1,333,974

Health and personal care stores

72,016

7,786,885

52,765

20,589

228,299

12,245

473,539

1,172,851

Gasoline stations

9,062

13,967,629

125,963

16,606

210,253

73,602

653,682

477,350

Clothing and accessories stores

93,339

7,161,030

76,768

11,319

514,757

27,746

437,851

1,341,491

Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores

56,578

5,017,395

56,856

9,157

162,233

47,754

248,000

617,813

General merchandise stores

18,132

3,143,634

32,547

* 6,298

114,018

6,015

119,042

332,319

Miscellaneous store retailers

354,957

22,871,430

216,077

85,735

950,845

128,215

1,338,062

4,440,818

Nonstore retailers

568,987

27,754,433

220,681

76,274

362,642

106,408

455,138

6,820,587

Retail trade

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with and without net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

Business

receipts

(1)

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Net income

less deficit

Payroll [1,4]

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

1,619,557

102,761,658

6,336,024

3,575,912

975,022

776,840

4,939,364

14,644,792

Air and rail transportation

16,929

1,483,508

357,954

27,551

33,410

42,868

120,331

-119,745

Water transportation

6,033

821,651

141,647

10,456

5,792

20,925

138,068

-13,007

Truck transportation

643,728

71,977,704

4,506,460

1,746,982

467,206

523,628

3,150,163

10,317,281

** 655,423

** 15,828,842

** 733,354

** 1,701,521

** 248,180

** 108,947

** 439,904

** 3,088,182

9,556

205,165

59,933

* 6,255

12,429

4,314

15,520

-43,914

Transportation and warehousing

Other transit and ground transportation

Pipeline transportation

Scenic and sightseeing transportation

(2)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

(8)

Support activities for transportation (including motor

vehicle towing)

90,138

6,444,137

440,721

30,060

114,516

57,669

773,817

506,217

Couriers and messengers

189,460

5,128,999

69,503

44,654

33,543

10,723

112,520

842,761

Warehousing and storage facilities

Information

8,290

871,652

26,453

8,433

59,946

7,767

189,043

67,017

337,957

13,324,032

399,508

125,903

298,375

60,644

1,163,831

3,404,466

Publishing industries (except internet)

77,200

2,387,458

19,392

5,313

15,022

5,619

341,742

696,077

Motion picture and sound recording

112,826

4,513,228

203,986

66,824

137,455

30,950

390,795

1,146,531

Broadcasting (except internet) and telecommunications

and internet service providers

47,574

2,972,726

97,144

45,160

76,594

18,349

236,775

535,549

Data processing, internet publishing and broadcasting,

and web search portals

100,357

3,450,620

78,985

8,606

69,305

5,727

194,519

1,026,308

636,234

90,052,429

785,584

223,648

1,600,301

478,944

4,987,805

20,374,787

Credit intermediation and related activities

39,213

2,496,173

47,110

15,898

75,400

65,892

220,120

519,728

Securities, commodity contracts, and other financial

investments

174,952

55,641,731

309,870

70,770

563,044

202,686

1,911,167

7,677,886

Investment bankers and securities dealers

12,810

4,682,136

17,612

2,147

31,785

11,739

64,267

377,763

Securities brokers

10,176

4,347,726

11,829

6,663

20,622

13,932

124,041

716,284

Commodity contracts brokers and dealers

3,031

1,256,297

2,278

** 262

12,908

1,365

12,998

285,357

Finance and insurance

Securities and commodity exchanges

1,317

* 241,726

* 1,947

* 1,350

* 1,245

* 13,855

-7,806

Other financial investment activities (investment advice)

147,617

45,113,846

276,205

61,697

496,380

174,405

1,696,006

6,306,287

Insurance agents, brokers, and related activities

422,069

31,914,526

428,604

136,980

961,857

210,366

2,856,518

12,177,173

Insurance agencies and brokerages

311,554

25,787,872

323,805

121,767

787,501

194,657

2,631,584

9,708,920

Other insurance related activities and other financial

vehicles

Real estate and rental and leasing

Real estate

110,515

6,126,654

104,799

15,213

174,356

15,709

224,934

2,468,253

1,214,655

77,364,512

2,979,279

438,972

1,136,900

899,442

2,900,683

28,155,705

1,167,939

73,280,887

1,675,520

372,756

1,052,160

775,732

2,496,785

28,279,959

Lessors of real estate (including miniwarehouses

and self storage)

52,178

2,167,383

241,224

21,711

88,836

149,221

130,656

397,935

Offices of real estate agents, brokers, property

managers, and appraisers

858,484

51,266,124

874,184

248,369

690,336

299,561

1,496,484

22,736,781

Other activities related to real estate

257,276

19,847,380

560,112

102,676

272,988

326,950

869,646

5,145,243

Rental and leasing services

45,550

4,081,997

1,303,759

66,216

84,741

123,710

403,897

-125,338

Automotive equipment rental and leasing

15,330

845,424

258,879

13,255

5,992

23,609

93,317

-18,662

Consumer electronics and appliances rental

** 2,671

** 61,185

** 18,188

** 2,080

** 1,803

** 2,506

* 11,171

** -20,817

Formal wear and costume rental

* 468

* 129,065

* 5,231

* 23,294

* 33,478

* 5,209

General rental centers and other consumer

goods rental

11,906

840,516

123,551

20,327

16,931

16,687

71,339

15,905

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment

rental and leasing

15,176

2,205,807

897,910

30,555

36,722

80,908

194,592

-106,973

Video tape and disc rental

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except

copyrighted works)

* 1,166

* 1,628

* 1,084

Professional, scientific, and technical services

3,486,604

196,280,689

3,652,709

869,435

4,453,976

905,327

17,240,946

83,310,522

Legal services

345,480

41,751,406

364,822

158,717

1,796,184

270,231

4,830,430

17,880,784

Offices of certified public accountants

46,475

4,668,714

81,513

20,099

172,179

39,881

710,565

2,014,303

Other accounting services

356,199

9,918,085

226,708

120,567

261,111

66,556

1,295,254

4,012,368

Architectural, engineering, and related services

249,754

14,981,519

451,258

116,039

248,167

71,184

1,692,306

5,057,324

Architectural services

102,545

7,014,316

242,745

71,117

134,588

34,153

1,029,398

1,977,655

Engineering services

85,798

5,208,684

132,270

36,667

88,239

25,208

446,707

1,962,846

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

Business

receipts

(9)

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

1,291,740

88,501,948

4,011,789

3,189,959

665,947

537,672

3,678,570

18,571,192

Air and rail transportation

12,784

888,584

33,110

7,203

9,845

7,655

57,389

262,094

Water transportation

3,974

680,676

82,912

* 8,765

* 5,076

13,477

111,262

54,134

Truck transportation

526,589

62,136,990

3,064,422

1,471,067

352,040

384,495

2,333,838

11,903,911

** 527,448

** 14,406,181

** 508,780

** 1,639,928

** 159,050

** 82,955

** 350,506

** 4,098,204

5,120

128,035

* 4,607

* 4,782

* 8,139

30,753

Transportation and warehousing

Other transit and ground transportation

Pipeline transportation

Scenic and sightseeing transportation

(10)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

(16)

Support activities for transportation (including motor

vehicle towing)

63,771

5,234,367

253,010

17,443

74,597

32,456

622,507

926,344

Couriers and messengers

145,268

4,310,874

44,095

39,749

24,118

9,745

88,609

1,171,839

Warehousing and storage facilities

6,785

716,242

20,852

5,805

36,439

6,887

106,320

123,913

221,965

10,756,551

242,764

99,721

175,543

28,507

678,956

4,306,285

Publishing industries (except internet)

47,659

1,711,538

11,743

3,331

6,644

* 188

68,365

876,673

Motion picture and sound recording

75,555

3,647,403

132,570

49,298

78,218

17,544

317,067

1,503,387

Broadcasting (except internet) and telecommunications

and internet service providers

27,478

2,317,146

36,677

43,945

37,665

5,835

134,482

734,614

Information

Data processing, internet publishing and broadcasting,

and web search portals

71,273

3,080,465

61,774

3,147

53,017

4,941

159,041

1,191,610

435,076

55,338,532

543,146

174,131

1,284,488

303,418

4,321,855

22,984,870

Credit intermediation and related activities

25,584

2,120,755

30,987

14,301

42,000

38,621

197,673

757,647

Securities, commodity contracts, and other financial

investments

113,498

24,687,173

184,425

42,392

407,033

86,291

1,473,120

9,077,325

Investment bankers and securities dealers

11,527

1,771,262

15,889

2,077

30,977

9,832

58,373

470,006

Securities brokers

8,781

2,845,859

9,555

** 6,854

13,509

5,049

92,884

747,409

Commodity contracts brokers and dealers

2,353

844,750

1,991

** 12,647

** 581

** 20,725

307,714

Finance and insurance

Securities and commodity exchanges

* 147

* 61,624

* 806

* 19,517

Other financial investment activities (investment advice)

90,689

19,163,678

156,184

33,461

349,900

70,828

1,301,138

7,532,679

Insurance agents, brokers, and related activities

295,994

28,530,604

327,734

117,438

835,455

178,507

2,651,062

13,149,898

Insurance agencies and brokerages

218,936

23,102,751

253,510

108,318

717,048

171,668

2,493,022

10,327,983

Other insurance related activities and other financial

vehicles

77,058

5,427,853

74,224

9,120

118,407

6,838

158,040

2,821,915

833,811

68,020,579

1,485,297

297,175

806,737

457,752

2,046,003

32,575,890

Real estate

808,086

65,347,348

1,024,811

267,719

764,919

404,568

1,802,981

31,976,539

Lessors of real estate (including miniwarehouses

and self storage)

26,721

1,566,631

116,003

7,990

50,350

79,089

72,718

698,597

Offices of real estate agents, brokers, property

managers, and appraisers

611,623

46,997,714

616,645

196,560

535,532

184,806

1,157,362

24,659,560

Other activities related to real estate

169,742

16,783,003

292,164

63,169

179,036

140,673

572,902

6,618,383

Rental and leasing services

24,561

2,671,603

460,485

29,456

41,818

53,184

243,022

598,266

Automotive equipment rental and leasing

10,167

466,041

125,942

** 4,902

2,272

11,085

** 28,098

114,969

Consumer electronics and appliances rental

* 1,017

* 35,297

* 9,400

* 100

* 4,459

Video tape and disc rental

* 437

* 95,246

* 9,411

General rental centers and other consumer

goods rental

5,389

646,056

** 66,125

* 4,352

** 29,587

7,661

** 85,281

169,788

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment

rental and leasing

7,551

1,428,963

259,019

20,202

9,959

34,338

129,644

299,639

Real estate and rental and leasing

Formal wear and costume rental

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except

copyrighted works)

* 1,163

* 1,628

* 1,086

Professional, scientific, and technical services

2,591,709

180,800,625

2,534,555

700,528

3,708,496

662,304

15,021,758

90,521,156

Legal services

285,859

40,061,723

316,860

145,560

1,667,542

234,904

4,429,387

18,468,701

Offices of certified public accountants

36,532

4,373,623

47,388

18,179

147,852

29,907

665,623

2,109,037

Other accounting services

283,516

9,128,897

185,162

107,762

199,242

52,407

1,141,892

4,372,144

Architectural, engineering, and related services

186,468

13,787,291

338,777

85,416

184,307

52,553

1,576,989

5,824,518

Architectural services

77,497

6,539,612

185,090

63,370

103,358

30,069

958,424

2,168,697

Engineering services

60,711

4,621,482

108,183

13,878

56,778

10,826

411,160

2,342,326

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with and without net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

Business

receipts

(1)

(2)

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

(3)

(4)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

less deficit

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Drafting, building inspections, and geophysical

surveying

44,376

1,843,853

21,860

* 2,049

11,896

5,486

127,718

964,613

Surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services

10,471

536,601

13,971

* 5,921

* 4,944

* 250

* 63,223

99,617

Testing laboratories

6,564

378,064

40,412

* 284

* 8,500

* 6,087

* 25,260

52,593

270,473

10,263,624

269,256

39,981

263,794

33,017

557,836

2,885,560

Specialized design services

Computer systems design services

286,069

12,186,926

191,694

35,177

141,674

47,325

1,705,179

4,839,241

1,932,153

102,510,415

2,067,457

378,855

1,570,868

377,132

6,449,377

46,620,942

Management, scientific, and technical

consulting services

918,517

53,060,774

817,705

163,995

702,851

187,114

2,835,008

28,089,465

Scientific research and development services

40,461

1,162,391

20,558

2,405

13,601

10,992

66,557

570,060

Advertising and related services

144,018

8,748,762

153,891

58,915

152,366

23,094

481,910

2,584,673

Other professional, scientific, and technical services

Market research and public opinion polling

53,368

1,795,982

15,060

3,060

28,350

* 1,262

97,127

1,009,292

Other miscellaneous services

775,788

37,742,507

1,060,243

150,479

673,701

154,669

2,968,774

14,367,451

2,471,954

71,549,687

2,451,611

544,959

775,448

350,572

8,058,863

20,878,960

2,447,895

68,965,754

2,266,906

532,466

754,690

326,603

7,757,194

20,491,927

24,059

2,583,933

184,705

12,493

20,758

23,969

301,669

387,033

855,798

12,462,997

307,997

71,587

794,438

48,973

812,423

4,259,346

2,181,372

121,896,872

2,229,755

592,343

5,240,048

751,595

17,983,164

49,914,827

1,255,515

98,911,498

1,795,466

482,769

4,390,204

598,131

15,002,476

41,508,962

179,425

31,912,367

424,971

135,809

1,196,190

149,349

4,256,628

15,050,488

Offices of physicians, mental health specialists

37,200

3,715,513

37,942

13,102

184,700

11,437

203,249

2,318,509

Offices of dentists

77,693

25,302,439

720,985

63,002

1,024,751

270,442

6,170,617

8,067,229

Offices of chiropractors

33,912

3,669,163

112,125

27,649

310,037

36,905

323,826

1,433,925

Offices of optometrists

22,796

4,048,270

79,244

13,079

271,129

25,559

761,914

1,205,976

Offices of mental health practitioners and

social therapists

197,753

10,351,783

123,234

62,627

677,364

19,776

923,337

5,137,273

7,905

1,428,120

8,355

7,926

122,956

8,383

198,397

551,073

Outpatient care centers and other miscellaneous

health practitioners

259,314

8,471,604

151,230

45,142

432,507

27,304

707,955

3,884,445

Medical and diagnostic laboratories

17,709

795,063

17,781

4,751

18,199

2,579

102,032

309,260

Home health care services

386,214

7,680,503

76,214

95,508

125,793

37,988

1,128,643

2,976,991

Other ambulatory health care services (including

ambulance services, blood and organ banks)

35,594

1,536,673

43,385

14,174

26,580

8,409

225,878

573,793

Hospitals

9,787

1,284,437

16,423

6,045

26,124

7,329

211,178

522,188

Nursing and residential care facilities

81,300

4,626,400

113,369

26,240

237,640

68,530

1,160,950

819,912

7,063,766

Administrative and support and waste management

services

Administrative and support services

Waste management and remediation services

Educational services

Health care and social assistance

Ambulatory health care services

Offices of physicians (except mental health specialists)

Offices of podiatrists

Social assistance

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries

834,770

17,074,537

304,497

77,289

586,079

77,604

1,608,560

1,499,737

39,117,870

1,672,912

285,042

1,341,279

216,440

2,178,580

9,471,518

1,346,487

29,498,640

1,123,558

** 168,596

746,171

** 126,969

1,128,867

9,150,994

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

8,028

370,610

* 3,795

* 7,151

* 32,292

67,348

Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries

145,222

9,248,620

545,559

116,446

587,957

89,471

1,017,422

253,176

Accommodation, food services, and drinking places

486,163

61,958,635

1,914,086

481,061

3,975,082

732,270

11,087,619

3,248,628

Accommodation

58,393

6,646,123

701,779

7,659

236,936

404,078

907,198

148,368

Travel accommodation (including hotels, motels, and

bed and breakfast inns)

38,853

5,160,174

542,983

5,684

142,058

333,844

754,461

88,237

RV (recreational vehicle) parks and recreational camps

9,999

669,227

99,781

373

* 12,955

47,834

41,103

-18,629

Rooming and boarding houses

Restaurants (full & limited service) and drinking places

9,542

816,722

59,015

* 1,602

81,923

22,399

111,633

78,760

427,770

55,312,512

1,212,308

473,402

3,738,146

328,192

10,180,421

3,100,260

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

Business

receipts

(9)

(10)

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

(11)

(12)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

Drafting, building inspections, and geophysical

surveying

37,008

1,770,185

9,743

* 1,975

* 11,335

5,408

119,481

1,014,204

Surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services

6,127

497,264

10,419

** 6,193

* 4,944

* 250

* 62,712

196,211

Testing laboratories

5,125

358,748

25,342

* 7,892

* 6,000

* 25,211

103,079

176,730

8,822,654

175,481

26,509

204,214

19,446

423,292

3,405,631

Specialized design services

Computer systems design services

205,353

11,106,575

131,553

21,728

84,666

39,263

1,429,545

5,534,885

1,417,251

93,519,862

1,339,334

295,375

1,220,672

233,825

5,355,031

50,806,239

Management, scientific, and technical

consulting services

666,023

49,520,803

520,101

112,015

511,482

111,890

2,339,086

30,236,614

Scientific research and development services

33,193

1,044,489

10,334

* 2,292

8,182

291

43,469

713,767

Advertising and related services

108,708

7,896,722

107,558

50,519

115,015

13,767

422,090

2,861,696

Other professional, scientific, and technical services

Market research and public opinion polling

40,000

1,748,190

9,471

* 2,634

20,244

* 69

85,563

1,067,866

Other miscellaneous services

569,327

33,309,658

691,870

127,916

565,749

107,808

2,464,823

15,926,297

2,038,986

64,228,410

1,797,452

332,853

534,096

248,083

6,252,994

24,611,905

2,018,643

61,979,508

1,632,954

323,699

519,651

226,953

6,031,976

24,158,762

20,343

2,248,903

164,498

9,154

14,445

21,130

221,018

453,143

659,976

11,143,884

182,165

49,113

639,244

26,185

649,676

5,411,369

Health care and social assistance

1,822,471

113,357,220

1,831,486

402,744

4,633,627

621,777

15,730,931

52,897,187

Ambulatory health care services

1,020,922

92,835,656

1,486,330

349,984

3,998,568

518,481

13,518,074

43,537,640

Offices of physicians (except mental health specialists)

147,778

29,632,784

320,911

119,538

1,071,911

119,397

3,757,287

15,316,264

Offices of physicians, mental health specialists

33,780

3,573,200

28,814

12,149

174,212

10,143

156,781

2,343,718

Offices of dentists

69,364

24,576,218

638,452

62,027

985,621

251,831

5,963,774

8,231,845

Offices of chiropractors

29,222

3,619,542

110,616

27,335

298,303

36,301

319,423

1,479,086

Offices of optometrists

17,559

3,798,862

77,586

10,969

259,703

25,421

705,815

1,215,123

Offices of mental health practitioners and

social therapists

158,571

9,539,261

84,825

48,597

602,657

16,950

765,628

5,396,270

6,943

1,361,832

8,324

7,926

122,586

8,383

197,642

552,122

Outpatient care centers and other miscellaneous

health practitioners

210,402

7,771,532

127,764

21,558

372,782

19,929

524,726

4,289,814

Medical and diagnostic laboratories

13,147

711,525

12,995

* 4,460

16,885

2,310

82,906

338,597

Home health care services

303,607

6,920,405

41,886

26,386

79,051

21,597

883,463

3,770,005

Other ambulatory health care services (including

ambulance services, blood and organ banks)

30,548

1,330,495

34,157

9,039

14,857

6,220

160,629

604,797

Hospitals

8,273

912,977

8,560

4,622

2,887

1,462

60,344

552,760

Nursing and residential care facilities

67,662

3,689,771

83,632

* 13,669

* 177,122

* 39,723

* 814,971

988,145

Social assistance

725,615

15,918,815

252,963

34,469

455,050

62,111

1,337,541

7,818,642

981,481

32,740,300

702,048

197,018

923,011

121,044

1,403,739

13,857,603

12,632,252

Administrative and support and waste management

services

Administrative and support services

Waste management and remediation services

Educational services

Offices of podiatrists

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries

882,592

25,564,126

** 500,279

109,846

** 515,339

68,135

** 734,396

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

5,999

358,975

99,005

Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries

92,890

6,817,199

201,769

87,172

407,673

52,909

669,343

1,126,346

Accommodation, food services, and drinking places

314,810

47,900,310

944,094

327,095

2,879,792

373,266

7,875,355

6,106,848

Accommodation

31,063

4,140,449

262,600

2,645

72,285

179,282

542,603

758,396

Travel accommodation (including hotels, motels, and

bed and breakfast inns)

21,770

3,171,758

195,134

1,535

65,358

141,140

418,386

576,635

RV (recreational vehicle) parks and recreational camps

4,855

393,827

36,255

* 104

* 743

* 27,002

21,583

37,154

Rooming and boarding houses

4,438

574,864

31,211

* 1,006

* 6,185

11,140

102,634

144,608

283,747

43,759,861

681,494

324,450

2,807,506

193,985

7,332,752

5,348,452

Restaurants (full & limited service) and drinking places

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with and without net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

(1)

Business

receipts

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

less deficit

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

3,512,160

112,054,576

3,243,624

924,979

7,357,323

711,191

8,801,884

29,421,897

Auto repair and maintenance

360,747

26,737,863

976,849

175,401

1,168,884

251,012

2,856,345

3,197,705

Automotive mechanical and electrical repair

and maintenance

197,540

13,470,265

516,128

129,861

622,956

138,249

1,082,031

1,486,057

Automotive body shops

70,691

7,129,098

136,181

22,254

235,611

51,311

975,175

1,034,770

Other services

(2)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

(8)

Other auto repair and maintenance (including oil

change, lubrication, and car washes)

92,517

6,138,501

324,540

23,287

310,318

61,452

799,140

676,879

Miscellaneous repairs

398,593

17,561,761

605,074

69,474

400,000

114,731

1,544,527

3,750,311

2,493,940

64,043,682

1,628,057

664,344

5,709,652

342,817

4,333,703

20,786,485

Personal and laundry services

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and

change,similar organizations

Unclassified establishments

258,879

3,711,270

33,644

* 15,759

78,787

* 2,632

* 67,309

1,687,396

589,940

6,582,839

199,251

53,543

96,957

31,994

125,582

2,562,396

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 1. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Business Receipts, Selected Deductions, Payroll, and Net Income, by

Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples —money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Businesses with net income

Industrial sector

Number

of returns

(9)

Business

receipts

Rent paid

Depreciation on machinery

and

deduction [1,2]

equipment [1]

Interest paid

deduction [1,3]

Payroll [1,4]

Net income

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

2,772,117

99,806,433

2,105,952

659,594

6,054,020

494,906

7,384,451

35,056,821

Auto repair and maintenance

269,084

22,918,340

671,735

133,046

973,733

184,142

2,460,207

4,228,356

Automotive mechanical and electrical repair

and maintenance

145,682

11,434,994

343,173

111,727

530,594

104,656

911,004

2,178,361

Automotive body shops

58,682

6,485,807

117,159

4,705

214,247

40,038

898,677

1,124,664

Other services

(10)

Rent paid

on other

business

property [1]

(16)

Other auto repair and maintenance (including oil

change, lubrication, and car washes)

64,720

4,997,539

211,403

16,614

228,892

39,447

650,526

925,331

Miscellaneous repairs

306,566

15,748,344

425,203

52,615

332,941

87,687

1,353,202

4,373,888

2,004,463

57,804,081

993,715

469,823

4,692,429

222,582

3,569,361

24,394,806

192,004

3,335,668

15,298

* 4,110

54,917

* 496

* 1,682

2,059,771

461,376

5,807,666

96,229

32,601

31,309

24,026

103,800

3,518,808

Personal and laundry services

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and

change,similar organizations

Unclassified establishments

*Estimate should be used with caution because of the small number of sample returns on which it is based.

**Data combined to prevent disclosure of taxpayer information.

[1] Excludes amounts reported on Schedule C-EZ filed by certain small businesses not required to itemize their business deductions. Therefore, totals shown may be slightly understated.

[2] Includes depreciation claimed on Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home.

[3] Interest paid is the sum of mortgage interest and other interest paid on business indebtedness.

[4] Payroll is the sum of salaries and wages plus the cost of labor reported as part of cost of sales and operations.

NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

Source: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns July 2017.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH AND WITHOUT NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income (loss) [1]

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business expenses

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Carryover of excess casualty losses and depreciation,

Form 8829 [3]

Net income less deficit [1,2]

Net income [1,2]

Deficit [2]

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

All

nonfarm

industries

Agriculture,

forestry,

hunting and

fishing

Mining

Utilities

Construction

Manufacturing

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

25,226,245

1,443,584,972

1,423,134,601

20,450,371

1,112,822,766

431,691,688

41,587,894

36,945,498

264,670,333

61,108,307

70,954,423

43,574,766

15,771,694

89,810,369

16,754,234

54,170,585

475,514

38,432,775

2,928,225

19,513,476

12,846,985

9,913,823

3,253,641

5,934,740

12,944,789

1,145,891

10,601,311

37,570,230

18,746,938

38,460,573

89,416,413

19,812,028

16,588,826

31,482,198

119,845,961

9,817,446

1,228,229

18,401

269,704

21,580,554

21,204,216

376,339

20,272,458

8,113,389

512,998

492,926

5,958,669

450,598

1,191,151

492,954

103,931

1,054,152

114,804

1,040,643

1,440

1,977,625

16,671

405,841

113,409

76,779

59,782

160,205

82,077

4,793

168,386

198,663

743,371

604,542

1,395,239

302,576

168,620

307,026

2,949,210

84,365

12,180

134,638

9,306,426

8,942,029

364,398

8,762,485

1,884,486

156,949

251,288

360,695

132,917

1,173,559

190,922

13,860

283,838

36,170

247,156

381,172

794,538

25,599

164,874

159,761

31,043

78,177

128,582

41,437

5,949

88,893

79,618

147,696

99,539

611,349

237,508

111,637

109,697

2,955,505

23,110

2,060

20,235

924,882

904,896

19,986

885,964

357,455

* 6,465

* 209,419

* 6,176

155,091

* 20,701

10,581

40,411

* 11,891

29,768

* 406

82,506

* 1,102

15,295

18,355

4,015

* 4,453

5,727

12,235

* 160

22,102

13,781

18,331

10,401

22,209

17,516

11,327

24,176

141,589

* 2,097

2,696,797

229,686,192

227,725,092

1,961,099

189,743,676

92,632,479

4,481,961

16,892,056

25,249,598

32,765,461

18,075,877

4,832,474

1,072,445

16,051,922

1,019,904

19,524,528

41,018

6,013,180

325,225

4,080,647

1,120,301

875,896

286,812

762,628

1,008,011

45,404

1,165,228

1,698,123

2,206,595

9,926,003

10,110,231

2,230,167

1,218,905

3,273,565

11,577,296

965,864

105,718

380,959

33,903,588

33,594,451

309,138

30,212,332

16,721,374

2,235,154

1,717,634

10,013,449

3,115,775

2,086,722

2,447,360

357,695

1,112,971

224,273

678,621

756

1,150,795

117,302

363,466

289,858

126,863

81,199

249,820

232,986

20,778

143,382

903,364

399,413

989,212

2,385,911

551,232

285,608

709,775

1,914,584

167,765

25,129

1,521,839

331,832,538

392,114,132

60,281,594

52,620

1,364,994

2,861,307

1,496,313

5,843

553,002

2,029,813

1,476,811

41,715

138,217

96,502

97,396

40,030,430

44,671,269

4,640,838

36,772

3,762,370

5,474,341

1,711,972

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business deductions

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Excess--casualty depreciations, Form 8829 [3]

Net income [1,2]

Returns with Schedule C-EZ:

Number of returns

Business receipts

Business deductions

Net income

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

All

nonfarm

industries

Agriculture,

forestry,

hunting and

fishing

Mining

Utilities

Construction

Manufacturing

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

18,784,750

1,236,419,550

1,219,802,269

16,617,281

844,622,482

330,052,100

25,840,408

30,553,030

198,054,598

51,268,202

51,740,128

27,404,267

11,599,228

67,322,317

13,041,369

45,950,216

257,705

24,547,475

2,271,029

15,250,503

9,187,521

7,858,948

2,018,820

3,755,163

9,879,460

1,060,534

8,305,956

28,955,085

13,873,611

29,803,171

71,830,656

15,498,814

12,073,641

22,838,005

84,503,521

8,087,190

821,026

15,339

255,531

392,114,132

162,932

17,358,619

17,090,326

268,292

14,498,789

6,514,499

331,514

388,653

4,886,392

409,393

814,662

316,116

73,056

648,210

75,765

835,388

1,171,210

13,256

255,307

72,313

58,348

28,060

95,307

63,868

4,548

119,442

132,304

498,982

413,677

1,041,304

205,642

102,459

184,998

1,820,704

45,430

4,842

* 771

2,861,307

86,250

6,160,323

5,973,064

187,259

4,134,645

981,653

29,733

90,276

258,358

101,445

545,445

43,604

8,121

216,297

29,382

211,035

187,771

390,971

12,589

103,429

62,212

22,661

16,200

41,535

23,052

2,331

63,943

28,087

96,226

69,555

318,410

116,060

77,880

71,588

946,372

19,744

535

2,029,813

13,251

414,382

414,105

* 277

276,336

* 125,280

* 115,647

* 3,013

* 3,281

26,491

* 323

* 18,908

* 351

15,746

* 433

5,578

1,555

* 581

* 516

* 1,395

1,952

* 20,195

1,132

4,900

5,562

* 11,181

5,200

2,222

7,603

9,842

* 1,941

138,217

2,255,773

207,050,445

205,252,602

1,797,843

162,395,788

79,957,974

2,666,780

14,962,030

21,215,420

29,031,517

14,915,551

2,833,325

875,750

13,729,475

906,946

17,766,683

38,136

4,731,791

261,699

3,452,630

857,560

741,959

183,679

487,389

840,227

36,727

920,192

1,385,688

1,789,408

8,685,789

8,480,029

1,873,956

980,647

2,661,131

9,389,394

856,965

79,543

42,957

44,671,269

255,192

27,990,543

27,755,472

235,072

22,554,519

13,142,946

1,426,551

1,267,367

8,234,751

2,347,521

1,468,149

1,601,392

177,366

755,973

146,136

562,249

* 325

736,324

89,766

275,443

167,708

95,693

51,158

115,939

171,803

18,923

99,342

660,329

277,742

660,457

1,752,953

406,776

173,264

519,920

1,339,500

123,155

16,921

* 2,432

5,474,341

5,391,652

43,066,410

4,892,414

38,173,996

41,580

249,389

24,919

224,470

23,430

108,672

21,294

87,378

7,105

42,362

* 8,075

34,287

487,707

4,859,151

511,296

4,347,855

52,334

374,706

33,330

341,375

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH AND WITHOUT NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income (loss) [1]

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business expenses

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Carryover of excess casualty losses and depreciation,

Form 8829 [3]

Net income less deficit [1,2]

Net income [1,2]

Deficit [2]

Footnotes at end ot table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Wholesale trade

(merchant

wholesalers)

Retail trade

Transportation

and

warehousing

Information

Finance

and insurance

Real estate

and rental and

leasing

Professional,

scientific,

and technical

services

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

371,148

58,023,627

57,501,371

522,256

52,978,692

38,325,851

4,061,811

631,124

32,610,640

1,955,415

3,273,739

4,206,878

516,420

1,546,260

533,966

719,398

680

668,354

78,784

329,742

404,618

198,313

55,205

208,573

292,996

36,296

284,200

844,734

333,096

688,714

1,941,615

406,423

609,857

643,553

3,100,882

188,651

39,872

** 6,011

2,460,635

184,752,906

182,869,991

1,882,916

173,475,585

116,288,745

21,224,489

1,520,227

104,082,711

6,194,162

5,407,670

22,140,515

2,027,979

5,965,679

1,973,436

1,604,032

5,597

2,500,538

202,480

1,316,463

892,707

549,991

392,669

750,316

1,127,515

45,293

541,738

5,786,798

1,157,338

3,266,886

8,108,352

2,643,745

1,296,506

3,823,698

10,260,145

658,356

116,161

1,619,557

102,761,658

101,504,747

1,256,911

88,160,963

10,142,930

337,739

1,648,918

3,085,624

928,503

4,389,472

247,327

301,654

23,494,421

1,617,266

6,508,118

14,672

6,319,239

72,541

3,670,927

482,342

2,179,969

244,301

532,539

470,163

6,541

3,575,912

975,022

6,089,429

1,460,487

3,290,446

1,420,952

1,178,511

1,586,101

12,026,951

201,130

16,785

337,957

13,324,032

13,123,379

200,652

9,974,662

3,324,471

93,188

496,152

1,132,867

119,282

1,580,759

97,777

261,519

651,284

196,518

731,679

370,123

25,831

77,231

206,886

106,812

10,354

50,291

132,385

3,948

125,903

298,375

68,084

253,323

667,678

108,122

292,975

344,190

1,393,571

220,294

29,385

636,234

90,052,429

88,122,057

1,930,372

69,741,179

35,907,584

372,951

195,947

27,281,115

174,624

8,219,624

336,677

1,088,529

2,934,523

3,263,199

1,283,836

2,073

746,745

196,798

560,309

872,761

571,016

106,203

372,741

993,931

117,612

223,648

1,600,301

259,177

536,949

4,791,858

642,996

964,440

1,188,922

10,142,516

282,997

38,839

* 411

1,214,655

77,364,512

75,473,382

1,891,130

49,321,541

11,069,482

2,766,189

403,599

5,167,794

931,073

4,999,406

3,198,581

2,328,587

5,497,294

2,999,277

1,594,568

2,272

2,884,781

133,933

642,793

1,218,125

654,733

457,207

442,235

1,101,406

45,087

438,972

1,136,900

845,109

903,634

2,497,083

892,532

835,221

1,877,144

7,900,590

724,851

94,498

3,486,604

196,280,689

192,541,685

3,739,004

113,100,935

25,147,148

1,143,142

3,574,912

9,249,067

3,083,209

9,272,662

1,175,844

2,860,193

7,550,989

1,833,685

6,778,075

17,652

3,309,421

644,229

1,782,806

3,056,127

1,511,017

293,841

611,486

2,871,298

310,048

869,435

4,453,976

1,025,389

2,874,114

13,666,034

2,124,940

4,647,041

4,381,376

17,251,576

2,606,703

343,287

3,651

120,599

5,071,951

6,748,135

1,676,185

186,461

11,360,234

19,771,114

8,410,880

11,745

14,644,792

18,571,192

3,926,400

27,520

3,404,466

4,306,285

901,819

39,362

20,374,787

22,984,870

2,610,084

111,919

28,155,705

32,575,890

4,420,185

415,724

83,310,522

90,521,156

7,210,634

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business deductions

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Excess--casualty depreciations, Form 8829 [3]

Net income [1,2]

Returns with Schedule C-EZ:

Number of returns

Business receipts

Business deductions

Net income

Footnotes at end ot table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Wholesale trade

(merchant

wholesalers)

Retail trade

Transportation

and

warehousing

Information

Finance

and insurance

Real estate

and rental and

leasing

Professional,

scientific,

and technical

services

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

228,243

48,155,851

47,730,543

425,308

41,422,794

31,185,277

2,770,505

433,340

27,070,209

1,402,193

2,313,414

2,804,383

216,924

1,091,941

420,691

518,683

123

381,318

55,766

234,453

235,430

152,024

22,012

128,594

196,625

30,007

224,649

585,088

217,498

527,063

1,419,708

292,887

415,100

422,406

2,316,339

110,930

11,295

** 6,011

** 308

6,748,135

1,357,591

150,886,928

149,219,248

1,667,681

131,127,043

93,507,138

13,699,738

1,076,727

84,248,120

4,787,160

4,335,319

14,639,925

1,377,238

3,323,204

1,493,982

1,244,785

3,035

1,294,613

148,079

906,850

560,528

331,215

240,938

462,319

674,651

43,151

395,660

3,826,149

770,790

1,935,205

5,993,610

1,877,624

719,583

2,308,240

6,936,031

473,417

56,412

21,536

19,771,114

1,291,740

88,501,948

87,434,977

1,066,971

69,939,286

8,026,329

287,717

1,337,203

2,441,529

768,379

3,349,537

158,036

221,203

18,974,427

1,401,759

5,390,889

14,240

3,998,316

52,424

2,912,292

368,553

1,928,263

185,955

351,717

355,401

5,147

3,189,959

665,947

4,931,697

1,110,051

2,341,367

1,149,026

963,066

1,194,474

9,724,121

185,462

13,473

* 1,651

18,571,192

221,965

10,756,551

10,606,980

149,571

6,460,277

2,247,031

67,415

261,945

853,269

46,889

1,085,839

68,326

148,001

392,911

157,836

505,567

225,212

8,752

46,518

107,719

81,684

* 2,798

25,709

79,333

3,467

99,721

175,543

46,350

183,446

417,011

75,062

208,123

223,131

787,029

159,576

17,552

4,306,285

435,076

55,338,532

54,275,311

1,063,221

32,359,222

8,014,766

281,632

171,018

3,945,272

122,701

3,753,290

259,148

950,352

2,149,639

2,251,646

929,814

1,670

514,657

165,969

463,006

515,371

456,242

79,932

223,487

796,374

112,209

174,131

1,284,488

208,038

424,108

4,150,836

537,353

720,505

957,444

5,967,213

226,194

28,489

* 411

* 6,763

22,984,870

833,811

68,020,579

66,413,459

1,607,120

35,452,972

8,372,366

1,245,568

316,702

4,225,108

529,799

3,600,656

1,545,468

1,914,211

4,109,872

2,555,548

1,284,826

1,524

1,422,477

85,362

427,583

797,870

535,741

216,271

241,480

856,391

41,291

297,175

806,737

490,646

665,238

1,729,301

618,796

589,353

1,332,897

5,251,962

612,272

62,820

16,521

32,575,890

2,591,709

180,800,625

177,521,919

3,278,706

90,338,877

20,615,680

575,030

3,222,014

7,629,288

2,462,981

7,378,657

652,290

2,260,855

5,520,234

1,374,176

5,740,543

4,974

2,284,736

530,834

1,422,093

2,480,123

1,198,977

221,157

441,148

2,370,900

290,132

700,528

3,708,496

798,737

2,185,917

11,799,744

1,790,735

3,697,245

3,328,178

12,815,977

2,148,359

249,819

* 1,556

76,116

90,521,156

42,205

297,045

21,510

275,535

354,199

2,189,979

288,582

1,901,397

259,457

1,570,756

298,402

1,272,354

79,011

514,991

52,809

462,181

76,796

810,184

89,516

720,669

124,275

1,611,035

197,723

1,413,312

627,157

6,866,026

622,336

6,243,690

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH AND WITHOUT NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income (loss) [1]

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business expenses

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Carryover of excess casualty losses and depreciation,

Form 8829 [3]

Net income less deficit [1,2]

Net income [1,2]

Deficit [2]

Footnotes at end of table.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Administrative

and

support and

waste

management

services

Educational

services

Health care

and social

assistance

Arts,

entertainment,

and recreation

Accommodation,

food services,

and drinking

places

Other

services

Unclassified

establishments

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

2,471,954

71,549,687

70,608,444

941,243

50,703,589

13,000,750

328,079

2,687,445

4,650,269

2,398,574

3,267,235

330,852

660,279

7,015,506

429,220

3,540,787

1,634

2,391,876

120,504

1,237,706

638,306

441,307

114,097

236,475

681,477

52,667

544,959

775,448

1,084,300

2,647,757

5,371,418

877,691

743,042

1,609,973

5,271,119

557,897

59,735

** 4,495

855,798

12,462,997

12,333,478

129,520

8,223,780

672,130

136,487

119,891

308,977

55,139

196,398

144,762

235,873

984,402

97,619

382,938

* 995

263,980

22,597

108,611

162,375

153,096

17,385

31,588

222,433

11,158

71,587

794,438

94,832

464,468

692,531

153,035

366,949

450,018

1,355,904

238,707

44,017

2,181,372

121,896,872

120,088,742

1,808,129

72,052,242

5,881,723

400,541

1,333,655

1,541,150

1,227,293

1,801,418

422,334

1,126,733

3,949,123

458,915

2,860,287

347

2,098,312

612,599

1,967,549

1,440,061

1,163,788

251,426

500,169

1,739,093

396,768

592,343

5,240,048

989,485

4,510,020

16,649,509

2,223,364

1,165,048

2,663,633

11,549,091

1,517,761

131,443

* 1,472

1,499,737

39,117,870

37,885,485

1,232,385

29,726,657

5,641,055

723,160

399,060

2,449,787

451,921

2,386,203

769,076

664,383

2,228,059

865,172

1,149,704

231

1,604,229

78,252

308,449

561,834

433,500

81,094

135,346

389,252

16,127

285,042

1,341,279

516,286

1,199,289

1,779,520

436,084

1,440,191

1,033,529

6,633,854

623,825

68,683

486,163

61,958,635

61,303,631

655,003

58,742,620

23,188,454

756,846

2,033,137

18,532,942

1,580,731

1,053,980

769,181

887,655

1,161,939

308,737

784,038

1,687

1,903,123

92,260

930,638

433,954

175,968

404,230

328,040

261,047

9,551

481,061

3,975,082

1,225,182

1,817,574

9,054,482

2,786,153

219,323

2,927,030

5,244,724

80,057

10,963

3,512,160

112,054,576

110,929,691

1,124,885

82,716,777

22,761,083

1,771,840

2,470,687

12,582,530

5,255,898

2,358,384

1,678,256

1,184,878

7,488,667

710,366

4,437,373

2,875

3,156,469

160,009

1,485,489

714,384

574,182

299,469

411,722

1,218,877

16,215

924,979

7,357,323

1,431,851

5,946,988

6,331,197

1,731,142

921,855

4,366,211

7,554,383

642,995

87,155

589,940

6,582,839

6,477,834

105,004

4,026,628

631,099

77,905

** 76,841

203,029

281,555

65,073

72,296

68,500

798,928

59,818

275,037

** 7

196,939

1,510

64,641

60,821

85,534

* 15,736

16,258

66,170

* 1,498

53,543

96,957

111,974

260,673

49,749

25,850

111,769

162,583

622,470

30,022

** 2,318

** 2,361

65,169

20,878,960

24,611,905

3,732,946

73,398

4,259,346

5,411,369

1,152,023

59,267

49,914,827

52,897,187

2,982,360

107,144

9,471,518

13,857,603

4,386,086

19,849

3,248,628

6,106,848

2,858,220

88,817

29,421,897

35,056,821

5,634,924

2,237

2,562,396

3,518,808

956,412

Fall 2017

Sole Proprietorship Returns, Tax Year 2015

Table 2. Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships: Income Statements, by Industrial Sectors, Tax Year 2015—Continued

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

Net income status, item

BUSINESSES WITH NET INCOME

Number of returns [1]

Business receipts, total [1,2]

Income from sales and operations [1]

Other business income

Business deductions, total [1,2]

Cost of sales and operations, total

Inventory, beginning of year

Cost of labor

Purchases

Materials and supplies

Other costs

Inventory, end of year

Advertising expenses

Car and truck expenses

Commissions

Contract labor

Depletion

Depreciation

Employee benefit programs

Insurance

Legal and professional services

Meals and entertainment deducted

Mortgage interest

Other interest paid on business indebtedness

Office expenses

Pension and profit-sharing plans

Rent paid on machinery and equipment

Rent paid on other business property

Repairs

Supplies

Salaries and wages

Taxes paid

Travel

Utilities

Other business deductions

Home office business deductions, total

Depreciation, Form 8829 [3]

Casualty loss, Form 8829 [3]

Excess--casualty depreciations, Form 8829 [3]

Net income [1,2]

Returns with Schedule C-EZ:

Number of returns

Business receipts

Business deductions

Net income

Administrative

and

support and

waste

management

services

Educational

services

Health care

and social

assistance

Arts,

entertainment,

and recreation

Accommodation,

food services,

and drinking

places

Other

services

Unclassified

establishments

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

2,038,986

64,228,410

63,598,666

629,744

39,619,953

10,679,381

255,281

1,988,463

4,444,977

2,047,181

2,208,182

264,703

446,266

5,303,927

360,391

3,017,104

1,563

1,754,563

91,896

985,963

478,083

329,736

81,020

167,063

456,097

43,253

332,853

534,096

772,514

1,923,951

4,264,531

696,755

537,587

1,152,930

4,076,460

478,022

42,889

** 4,412

8,542

24,611,905

659,976

11,143,884

11,057,982

85,902

5,747,055

542,051

34,324

107,856

253,588

33,280

156,428

43,424

146,355

610,902

84,348

305,981

* 835

158,982

19,850

70,423

116,950

97,159

8,716

17,469

135,673

5,592

49,113

639,244

61,830

300,905

541,820

125,980

220,874

276,433

863,237

178,567

23,183

* 9,392

5,411,369

1,822,471

113,357,220

111,692,226

1,664,994

60,481,147

5,021,194

296,418

1,143,144

1,285,359

1,086,947

1,511,127

301,800

928,496

2,821,362

375,330

2,448,261

330

1,715,621

516,526

1,680,846

1,196,279

977,784

199,128

422,649

1,550,150

383,501

402,744

4,633,627

810,770

3,932,199

14,587,786

1,945,319

945,516

2,205,320

8,918,177

1,377,970

115,865

* 1,472

25,674

52,897,187

981,481

32,740,300

31,767,147

973,153

18,924,536

4,290,970

390,313

324,591

1,914,243

309,245

1,746,580

394,001

388,245

1,264,537

692,492

810,563

658,620

50,600

177,642

337,704

279,800

50,012

71,032

235,776

14,690

197,018

923,011

290,080

706,832

1,079,149

295,891

961,443

644,216

3,743,050

483,286

43,428

13,578

13,857,603

314,810

47,900,310

47,456,890

443,420

41,807,198

17,797,063

436,217

1,372,316

14,651,886

1,070,435

734,758

468,548

601,036

660,061

120,940

552,602

* 1,480

936,960

50,301

647,176

259,395

101,586

203,561

169,705

145,108

8,703

327,095

2,879,792

750,484

1,274,391

6,503,039

2,043,035

132,708

2,006,874

3,513,687

59,782

7,133

7,381

6,106,848

2,772,117

99,806,433

98,824,342

982,091

64,788,862

18,453,299

977,675

2,019,006

10,189,395

4,458,042

1,762,624

953,442

846,749

5,357,611

560,090

3,665,781

* 1,244

2,060,592

115,730

1,156,006

537,444

428,052

214,568

280,338

893,253

15,313

659,594

6,054,020

1,010,566

4,651,305

5,365,445

1,428,549

567,742

3,265,615

5,797,206

524,378

45,360

19,924

35,056,821

461,376

5,807,666

5,717,011

90,655

2,293,182

577,202

** 67,998

** 70,381

191,787

** 253,096

* 56,897

** 56,335

15,722

365,243

33,590

140,554

94,767

* 1,196

27,265

34,721

41,445

* 13,139

10,887

32,827

** 1,548

32,601

31,309

46,353

147,520

33,432

14,168

58,325

74,608

287,221

21,739

** 1,468

** 1,477

** 1,982

3,518,808

786,784

5,774,395

657,397

5,116,998

298,795

1,195,696

174,132

1,021,564

585,461

5,910,657

505,048

5,405,609

351,285

1,624,170

281,070

1,343,100

68,558

427,381

60,634

366,747

851,062

7,125,700

885,792

6,239,908

274,452

1,514,116

158,548

1,355,568

* Estimate should be used with caution because of the small number of sample returns on which it is based.

** Data combined to prevent disclosure of taxpayer information.

[1] Includes returns with Schedule C-EZ attached. Schedule C-EZ was filed for certain small businesses, i.e., those with net incomes, business expenses of $5,000 or less, used the cash accounting method, with

no inventories or employees, and with no deduction for a home office business and no allowable "passive" activity losses. Because only a total is reported for business deductions on Schedule C-EZ, the totals

shown in the statistics exceed the sum of the detailed deductions; the detailed deductions are, therefore, slightly understated.

[2] Total business deductions are before subtraction of nonallowable "passive" activity losses and any "passive loss" carryover from the prior years. However, these losses (after subtraction) and any carrryover are

reflected in net income or deficit. Therefore, total business receipts minus total business deductions may not always equal net income or deficit.

[3] These are selected line items from Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, and do not represent the total of the home office business deduction found on the Schedule C.

NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

Source: IRS, Statistics of Income Division, Sole Proprietorship Returns, June 2017.

Statistics of Income Bulletin

Fall 2017

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.