The 400 individuals and couples reporting the highest adjusted gross income for 2010 - the latest data available - earned an average of $265 million per return, according to new statistics from the Internal Revenue Service. The agency has tracked such data since 1992.

The total income for the group of 400 taxpayers was $106 billion. Although the 2010 total was far higher than the $81 billion earned by the group in 2009 during the financial crisis, it was still well below the $138 billion reported for 2007, the record high.

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