No max, it's not irrelevant and it is far more than a sympton. The income tax system is the carrot and stick by which politicians lie to us about how much we pay in taxes since they never include or mention the 20 to 40 percent increase in prices caused by the cascading hidden income taxes that get embedded into consumer prices.
They also like to pretend the payroll tax does not exist or is not a tax.
A NRST such as the FairTax eliminates this non-productive tax increase completely alson with the IRS and the income tax itself.
Little Willie was "The Worst President In American History".