The 1924 Revenue Act Set a Top Marginal Tax Rate of 46 Percent

I was browsing through old editions of the Federal Register—who doesn’t, after all?—and learned that the Revenue Act of 1924 set a tax rate of 43 percent on incomes over $100,000 and 46 percent on incomes over $500,000. That’s about the equivalent of $1.5 million and $7 million, respectively, today, compared to a top marginal rate of 37 percent in current law. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, that even a conservative Republican administration in the era of small government taxed the rich more than we do today? It’s also worth noting that the 1924 Act set up 43 tax brackets. Apparently it never occurred to them to invent a dumb canard about lots of brackets having anything to do with the complexity of filing a return.

Oh, and there’s also this. Just thought I’d post it for no particular reason.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate