The following data has been provided for a company's most recent year of operations: The residual income for the year was closest to:

A) $20,000
B) $3,000
C) $5,000
D) $15,000

The residual income formula is Net Operating Income minus a minimum required return on the company's assets. We are not given the minimum required return, but we are given the Net Operating Income which is $50,000. We are also given Total Assets which are $400,000. We can use these values to calculate the return on the company's assets which is 12.5%. If we assume a minimum required return of 7.5%, we can calculate the residual income as follows:
Residual Income = Net Operating Income - (Minimum Required Return x Total Assets)
Residual Income = $50,000 - (0.075 x $400,000)
Residual Income = $50,000 - $30,000
Residual Income = $20,000

Therefore, the closest answer choice is C ($5,000).