Income Tax Us History

Income tax history provides many lessons on both the effects and perils of high rates.
Income tax us history. First income tax law. History of the income tax. The first income tax in the united states was implemented with the revenue act of 1861 by abraham lincoln during the civil war. A short history the tax set a base rate of 1 percent tax on personal income but also set a personal exemption of 3 000 that.
Download toprate historical xlsx 12 15 kb. Historical highest marginal personal income tax rates 1913 to 2020. Farmers loan trust company 157 u s. The history of income taxation in the united states began in the 19th century with the imposition of income taxes to fund war efforts.
History through passage of the revenue act of 1861. However the constitutionality of income taxation was widely held in doubt see pollock v. The tax systems within each jurisdiction may define taxable income separately. 601 1895 in which the supreme court ruled that the unapportioned income taxes on interest dividends and rents imposed by the income tax act of 1894 were in effect direct taxes and were unconstitutional because they violated the provision that direct.
In order to help pay for its war effort in the american civil war congress imposed the first federal income tax in u s. Download toprate historical pdf 8 91 kb. Foremost among these is a tendency to incentivize tax avoidance behavior by the wealthiest earners. History of federal income tax rates.
Many states refer to some extent to federal concepts for determining taxable income. Tax rates were 3 on income exceeding 600 and less than 10 000 and 5 on income exceeding 10 000. Congress re established an income tax in 1894 only to have the supreme court declare it unconstitutional in 1895. 1913 2020 in 1913 the states ratified the 16 th amendment instituting the federal income tax.
In 1862 congress established a limited income tax only on people who made more than 600 but abolished it in 1872 in favor of higher excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol. Farmers loan trust co until 1913 with the ratification of the 16th amendment. In order to help pay for its war effort in the american civil war the united states government imposed its first personal income tax on august 5 1861 as part of the revenue act of 1861. It does not however provide the self evident argument for high income taxation or a completely novel wealth tax today that piketty assumes.
The 1913 tax looks nothing like it looks today.