Income Tax Rates from 1913 to 2006

Since being enacted in 1913, the tax code constantly has been changing with rates on personal income ranging from less than 5 percent to more than 90 percent over the years. This paper highlights these changes by examining periods of historic high and low rates for taxpayers with varying levels of income. This paper looks at the marginal and average income tax rates that would have been faced by typical households of today using tax rates from 1913 to 2006. Representative levels of gross income are adjusted for average levels of deductions and exemptions to obtain typical levels of taxable income for 2006. After adjusting for inflation using the CPI, the tax tables for married couples filing jointly are applied for each year from 1913 to 2006. The results are presented in graphs for representative levels of gross income - today's median income, the 95th percentile, minimum wage, and $2,600,000.