Income tax By the 1860s, the progressive tax had become a grudgingly accepted element of the English fiscal system. The US federal government imposed the first personal income tax on August 5, 1861, to help pay for its war effort in the American Civil War - (3% of all incomes over US$800) (equivalent to $ in ). This tax was repealed and replaced by another income tax in 1862. It was only in 1894 that the first peacetime income tax was passed through the Wilson-Gorman tariff. The rate was 2% on income over $4000 (equivalent to $ in ), which meant fewer
Income tax in the United States applies to net investment income in excess of certain thresholds. An individual pays tax at a given bracket only for each dollar within that tax bracket's range. The top marginal rate does not apply in certain years to certain types of income. Significantly lower rates apply after 2003 to capital gains and qualifying dividends (see below). Income tax for year 2017: Single taxpayer making $40,000 gross income, no children, under 65 and not blind, taking standard deduction; Note, however, that taxpayers with taxable income of less than $100,000 must use IRS provided tax tables. Under that table for 2016, the