99.25%
The highest rate of income tax peaked in the Second World War at 99.25%. It was then slightly reduced and was around 90% through the 1950s and 60s.

What did the Revenue Act of 1918 do?

The Revenue Act of 1918, 40 Stat. 1057, raised income tax rates after recent previous tax increases. The bottom tax bracket was expanded but raised from 2% to 6%. The act simplified the tax structure created by the 1917 act.

Which is the highest taxed country in the world?

In 2020, the highest income earners in Sweden paid a whopping 57.19%, making it the highest tax paying country in the world.

What was the federal income tax rate in 1918?

This reduced the top marginal tax rate that combined normal tax and surtax from 77% to 73%. Even in 1918, only 5% of the population paid federal income taxes (up from 1% in 1913), and yet the income tax funded one-third of the cost of World War I.

What was the War Revenue Act of 1918?

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%. This reduced the top marginal tax rate that combined normal tax and surtax from 77% to 73%.

What was the first income tax in the United States?

Information For… 1862 – President Lincoln signed into law a revenue-raising measure to help pay for Civil War expenses. The measure created a Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the nation’s first income tax. It levied a 3 percent tax on incomes between $600 and $10,000 and a 5 percent tax on incomes of more than $10,000.

What was the top tax rate in 1916?

Instead of applying a “like normal tax” and a “like additional tax” to the 1916 act normal tax and additional tax it created a single tax structure with a Normal Tax and a Surtax. The top rate was increased to 77%, and applied to income above $1,000,000.