Posted on 12/15/2022 1:00:32 PM PST by amorphous
As a Marine, in 1951, I didn’t make enough to have to even be aware of the tax levels left over from WWII...
Vision: John Wayne had to make movies like crazy as he was in the top bracket and had alimony and such.
John Waynes divorce court transcripts are online. Guy was a horndog. Bedded the ladies as best as anyone. Gary Cooper. yes Sgt York would go to orgies on a regular basis.
Media and the film studios kept their private lives secret back then.
ROFLOL.
91% income tax.
So if we used these tax rates and you made 200K per year.....
You kept 18K and the Feds got 182K
Then you owe 7%-15% state tax in most states, which means you owe another 15-30K to the State.
Then there is city tax, which is a few percent, so likely another 5K.
Therefore, using 1951 Federal and Modern State Tax, if you made 200k per year you would owe 235K to State, City, and Federal Taxes. That means your -35K for working. That doesn’t include sales, gas, property taxes, licence taxes, ect. It’s slavery, not taxes.
Reminds me of song from along time ago, “You move 16 tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in dept”.
He said it was his wake up call to believe in what we today call the Laffer Curve.
It’s not as bad as it looks. There were WAAAY more deductions. You could even deduct interest on credit cards.
I do remember that my Dad, a farmer, referred to the IRS as ‘those robbers.’
He did pay his taxes. He also had a book on the end table by his TV chair, “How to avoid probate”. He and Mom did do that. Set up a trust. Gifted us kids $ over the years, under tax limits, transferred property at low land value times to benefit us all.
Worked diligently all his life. Passed that ‘work ethic’ to us.
Thanks DAD.
Not how tax brackets work. Your first $2,000 was taxed at 20%, and then the rate graduated with the income, each rate is applied only to the marginal income in that bracket. The $150,001 dollar you earned would be taxed at 90% up to the next bracket. Everything you claimed as adjusted gross income over $200,000 was taxed at 91%. As mentioned by others, people utilized tax shelters and tax free investments to get around these taxes. Effective marginal tax rates on income over $200,000 wasn’t half of the actual rate.
For decades, high income tax rates were ameliorated by exemptions, allowances, credits, and such. Although nominal tax rates were high, the average effective tax rate was considerably lower.
I appreciate everyone's reply. I find it strange those years are looked upon as "the good old days." But then our money was as 'good as gold', actually tied to the price of gold and the budget was balanced compared to our deficit spending today.
I became a Journeyman Union Pipefitter in 1979. We made $16.64/hour on our checks. Claiming single and 0 I would pay aboput $340/week in taxes and take-home pay was about $325.
“I want to correct myself. Reagan lowered it from 73% to 28%”
The HUGE thing that Reagan got passed was INDEXING the tax brackets to adjust for INFLATION!
The Dim’s loved inflation as a taxpayer would just ‘move up’ from one tax bracket to another.
God bless President Reagan!
lol
In the early 1950’s, when I was in grade school, the folks knew I was good at math so they asked me to check their 1040’s for accuracy. I read those old instruction books cover to cover and came to know all about the 90% top marginal tax rate. I was about ten when that first came to PMO. That convinced me to study it more and learn how to minimize taxes. The first thing that really stuck with me was that the “living expenses” of business was deductible. So for the past seven decades I’ve been a receipt saver, loop hole looker, depreciation freek, always have some form of bizness, and use as many forms as it takes to get the tax rate to zero. NEVER file on line. Make the fedz read the whole pile. If there is a challenge make THEM provide chapter and verse. I didn’t say it was easy but I guess it depends on how hard you work to make a buck and keep it for oneself?
you’d have to associate the percentage of the population making which salaries to determine if it was accurate (tho i do remember an insane top rate like 90%+ prior to it being dropped by JFK)
Exactly. Our Founding Fathers knew just how evil a personal income tax is.
People weren't investing at all at 92%. Why get double taxed at that rate? Kennedy, and later Reagan, reduced the tax rates specifically to encourage investment.
that’s before deductions...
Pretty much true. I remember my dad (dentist) buying apartment buildings with negative cash flow because the depreciation would more than offset by reducing his taxes. It was the Reagan tax cut that brought income tax down to more reasonable levels...but it also made capital gains taxed as regular income...2 edged sword.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.