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The United States War Revenue Act of 1917 greatly increased federal income tax rates while simultaneously lowering exemptions. [1] The 2% bracket had previously applied to income below $20,000. That amount was lowered to $2,000. The top bracket (on income above $2 million) was raised from 15% to 67%. The act was applicable to incomes for 1917.
In 1878, a federal telephone excise tax was introduced as a "war tax" to help pay for the Spanish–American War, but was repealed in 1902. [2] In 1914, it was reinstated as part of the Emergency Internal Revenue Tax Act, after President Wilson called on Congress to raise an additional $100 million due to World War I. [1]
This tax was repealed and replaced by another income tax in the Revenue Act of 1862. [9] After the war when the need for federal revenues decreased, Congress (in the Revenue Act of 1870) let the tax law expire in 1873. [10] However, one of the challenges to the validity of this tax reached the United States Supreme Court in 1880. In Springer v.
Underwood quickly shepherded the revenue bill through the House of Representatives, but the bill won approval in the United States Senate only after extensive lobbying by the Wilson administration. Wilson signed the bill into law on October 3, 1913. The Revenue Act of 1913 lowered average tariff rates from 40 percent to 26 percent.
The top rate was increased to 77%, and applied to income above $1,000,000. The top rate of the War Revenue Act of 1917 had taxed all income above $2,000,000 at a 67% rate. The act was applicable to incomes for 1918. For 1919 and 1920 the top normal tax rate was reduced from 12 percent to 8%.
The first revenue stamps in the United States were used briefly during colonial times, among the most notable usage involved the Stamp Act.Long after independence, the first revenue stamps printed by the United States government were issued in the midst of the American Civil War, prompted by the urgent need to raise revenue to pay for the great costs it incurred.
In response, Congress passed the Emergency Internal Revenue Tax Act of 1914. [5] The Act was mostly a renewal of the excises contained in the Spanish–American War Revenue Act. It included a tax of 1 cent for telephone calls costing more than 15 cents. The taxes instituted under this Act were initially set to expire on December 31, 1915.
The United States Revenue Act of 1916, (ch. 463, 39 Stat. 756, September 8, 1916) raised the lowest income tax rate from 1% to 2% and raised the top rate to 15% on taxpayers with incomes above $2 million ($57.8 million in 2024 dollars). Previously, the top rate had been 7% on income above $500,000 ($14.4 million in 2024 dollars).