Tax Rate 1913 Income Level Adjusted for Y2K Dollars zero Up to $20,000 Up to $341,819 1% $20,000-$50,000 $341,819 to $854,546 2% $50,000-$75,000 $854,546 to $1,281,819 3% $75,000-$100,000...
Most folks seem to believe that U.S. citizens have been paying a mandatory tithe ever since the Income Tax was written into the Constitution of the United States by its Founding Fathers in 1776. Oh to the contraire. Wrong century. Wrong document. Wrong gender.
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The new union still had to support itself, so the Constitution allowed for tariffs on imports and exports, excise taxes on liquor, and support from issuing government bonds. Which seemed to work well - for the next 124 years, there was no individual income tax. Except for two brief periods - during 1862-1872 (an "income duty" to pay for the Civil War) and 1874-1875 (until the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional) - this nation thrived without a national income tax imposed on its citizens. Americans were free to earn, save, use, build, invest, donate and bequeath their wealth without limit. With that freedom, the colonies of farming communities and hunter-gatherers developed into the greatest industrial nation on Earth.
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We had some arguments, since I am for taxation. I don't comprehend how everything runs, but logic says a community/country needs money to facilitate communication, education, transportation, protection of our lives and human rights. I didn't know how much was really necessary - though an individual's 5-10% tithe from that year's net seemed reasonable.
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Though all versions could have used a better choice of fonts and the typesetting prowess of Kibo, the first 1040 was still attractive in its simplicity. No accountants or computers were needed for its easy calculations and substantial exemptions. One's personal loss was minimal (and minimized), especially since this modest tax applied only to the very wealthy. A ONE PERCENT TAX was no huge loss - a mere tenth of what tycoons tithed churches for a cooler space in the afterlife. And the grand open ranks of the fabulously rich enticed a hardworker's hope of someday attaining that 6% goal line. Myghod, $20,000, in 1913! What would that be, at today's exchange rates..?
Tax Rate
1913 Income Level
Adjusted for Y2K Dollars
zero
Up to $20,000
Up to $341,819
1%
$20,000-$50,000
$341,819 to $854,546
2%
$50,000-$75,000
$854,546 to $1,281,819
3%
$75,000-$100,000
$1,281,819 to $1,709,091
4%
$100,000-$250,000
$1,709,091 to $4,272,728
5%
$250,000-$500,000
$4,272,728 to $8,545,455
6%
Over $500,000
Over $8,545,455
Exempt:
Single
$3,000
$51,273
Married
$4,000
$68,364
Though it should be noted that I think the author misread the document. It seems to be that any non-exempt portion would be taxed at least 1% with section 8 being "additional tax":
Though it should be noted that
I think the author misread the document. It seems to be that any non-exempt portion would be taxed at least 1% with section 8 being "additional tax":https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1913.pdf
But still this is very surprising to me! I didn't know this history--maybe I skipped that day in school