Talk:Revenue Act of 1916

Text from merged page
The following material appeared on Emergency Revenue Act of 1916, a page I redirected to this one. Based on (many) other pages created by the same author, User:Eucharistman, this material is probably accurate, but is unsourced. Posted here for future reference.

''Meant to “soak the rich,” it raised the Underwood rate but eliminated payroll taxes. Southern and Mid-Western Populist Democrats intended to make sure that if there was no alternative but to acquiesce in the President’s Preparedness Program, big businesses, which they suspected of secretly hoping for war, would pay for it. To quote Rep. Warren Worth Bailey (D) of Pennsylvania: “If the forces of big business are to plunge this country into a saturnalia of extravagance for war purposes in a time of peace, it is my notion that the forces of big business should put up the money.” The act doubled the normal income tax rate from 1% to 2%, and established a munitions profits tax of 12.5% on gross receipts of net profits of 10% or higher. It was progressive in that for the 1st time it established an estate tax of 10% on incomes higher than $50,000. It raised surtaxes on incomes over $40,000 from 6% to a maximum of 10%, and increased the surtaxes on incomes over $20,000 to a maximum of 13% which, with the normal tax rate of 2%, set the maximum income tax at 15%. It also created the Tariff Commission to collect expert information for Congress on the “administrative, fiscal, and industrial effects” of U.S. tariff laws. It was passed to give the government added revenue in the event of war, and it raked in more than $250 million. It did get rid of the stamp and telephone taxes contained in the Emergency Internal Revenue Act of 1914.''

--Lockley (talk) 04:21, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

"The entry of the United States into World War I greatly increased the need for revenue."
This Act was passed in September 1916. The US entered the war in April 1917. Not sure what to make of that. Andrew Gradman talk/WP:Hornbook 20:04, 6 December 2020 (UTC)