Top Federal Income Tax Rate Was Once Over 90 Percent

by Joseph Henchman

Over at the StangNet.com forums, a commenter looking at Tax Foundation data expresses surprise that marginal income tax rates once reached 91 percent. Indeed they did!

The rate had reached 94 percent during World War II, on income over $200,000 (approx. $2.49 million in today's dollars). It dropped down to 91 percent in 1946 and remained there until the Kennedy tax cuts in 1962-64. Brackets weren't inflation adjusted back then, so it still applied on income over $200,000, which by then had reached $1.41 million in today's dollars. Click here for a newsreel of President Kennedy urging passage of the tax cut.