10 ms·

Check your US tax rate for 2012—and every year since 1913

26 points by Cbasedlifeform 14y ago

slykat 14y ago
Anyone know why tax rates heavily spiked in 1941 - 1942? Is this due to World War 2?
- JoshTriplett 14y ago
  Yup. Notice the similar spike around World War I. Also notice that the spike went back down fairly soon after World War I, but after World War II they pretty much stayed at the increased level; rather than decreasing spending and taxes back to pre-war levels, the government just found other ways to spend it and continue growing.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - timr 14y ago
    "rather than decreasing spending and taxes back to pre-war levels, the government just found other ways to spend it and continue growing." Well golly, let's not let facts get in the way of a good story. The federal government had a huge debt to pay down after the war. The debt as a fraction of GDP spiked to an all-time high after WWII, and steadily declined until the late 70s. The higher taxes were going toward that debt. Then we dramatically cut taxes in the late 70s, and the debt started climbing again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
    - coolj 14y ago
      That may be true--I'd like to know what specific tax cuts you're referring to. It also looks like it was the 80's when the debt really started growing, according to the numbers in that article. It's true that government spending (as % of GDP) never went back to pre-war levels, and has continued to increase: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#United_States_of_America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#United_Stat...
      - timr 14y ago
        I'm referrig to the massive drop in all tax rates starting around 1979(which are clearly visible in the chart on the page that this comment thread is discussing.)
    - JoshTriplett 14y ago
      > The federal government had a huge debt to pay down after the war. Granted, but if spending had otherwise returned to the previous levels then that debt would have gone away entirely and then the new taxes along with it. That rather obviously didn't happen. :) A now-deleted sibling comment linked to the corresponding spending levels, which confirm the continued spending (note that this graph doesn't even include the debt): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Us_gov_spending_histry_by_function_1902_2010.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Us_gov_spendi...
      - jellicle 14y ago
        Among other things, the government was building the free interstate highway system and a shitload of free public schools for the baby boom generation.
        bunderbunder 14y ago
        I suspect neither of those was anywhere near as expensive as funding the Cold War.
  - njharman 14y ago
    We were still at war, son. The Cold War, gotta prove Capitalism can outspend those pinko commies. Marshall Plan et all.
    - kokey 14y ago
      Well at least they spent some of it on going to the moon and sending stuff to Mars.
smcl 14y ago
It would be nice if your after-tax pay was included in the chart alongside your tax rate and inflation-adjusted income.
citricsquid 14y ago
21.5% on $100k, are US taxes really that low?
- Shivetya 14y ago
  Sad to think that people feel taking a fifth of a persons productive output is low. Throw in city and state taxes and burdens can be pretty abysmal. Throw in on top of that all the embedded taxes in nearly every item you buy today and I wonder where our true tax load is. The US does not have a taxing problem, it has a spending problem. Even if the President got his wishes his tax increase on the "rich" would not net more that the US deficit spends in ONE month. If you tax 400K+ it only returns a possible 70 billion more PER YEAR!. Worse, instead of using these taxes to reduce the deficit they already have new spending lined up. So, sorry I feel that even twenty percent is pretty bad. It means for over a fifth of the year I am not working for myself. Since my effective is near thirty percent I spend an incredible amount of time working for someone else.
  - maratd 14y ago
    > Throw in city and state taxes and burdens can be pretty abysmal. Ah, see, that's the problem. First, you pay federal income tax. Second, you pay state income tax. Third, you pay payroll taxes/fees. Fourth, you pay property taxes for your residence. Fifth, you pay state/county sales taxes on whatever you decide to buy. Oh, did I mention that widget you bought that came from China probably had some tariffs on it? Made in the USA? No worries. You paid for some of the federal/state payroll taxes/fees the manufacturer was responsible for.
    - maratd 14y ago
      Oops! I thought about it and I forgot one! If you live in a big city, there's a chance they have an income tax of their very own! http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/services/business_tax_nys_income.shtml http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/services/business_tax_nys_i...
  - ry0ohki 14y ago
    No to mention us self employed entrepreneurs who pay the "self employment tax"
nhebb 14y ago
The tax freedom day chart - http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/tax-freedom-day http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/tax-freedom-day (scroll down a bit) is a better metric because in looks at all the taxes for the average taxpayer.
whalesalad 14y ago
This website is atrocious! If you scroll up or down slightly (easy to do with a touchpad or magic mouse) it loads another post.
jacobn 14y ago
The extremely high tax rates in the fifties and sixties give a misleading impression of the overall tax burden for high earners: http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324705104578151601554982808.html http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732470510...

slykat 14y ago

Anyone know why tax rates heavily spiked in 1941 - 1942? Is this due to World War 2?

JoshTriplett 14y ago
Yup. Notice the similar spike around World War I. Also notice that the spike went back down fairly soon after World War I, but after World War II they pretty much stayed at the increased level; rather than decreasing spending and taxes back to pre-war levels, the government just found other ways to spend it and continue growing.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- timr 14y ago
  "rather than decreasing spending and taxes back to pre-war levels, the government just found other ways to spend it and continue growing." Well golly, let's not let facts get in the way of a good story. The federal government had a huge debt to pay down after the war. The debt as a fraction of GDP spiked to an all-time high after WWII, and steadily declined until the late 70s. The higher taxes were going toward that debt. Then we dramatically cut taxes in the late 70s, and the debt started climbing again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
  - coolj 14y ago
    That may be true--I'd like to know what specific tax cuts you're referring to. It also looks like it was the 80's when the debt really started growing, according to the numbers in that article. It's true that government spending (as % of GDP) never went back to pre-war levels, and has continued to increase: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#United_States_of_America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#United_Stat...
    - timr 14y ago
      I'm referrig to the massive drop in all tax rates starting around 1979(which are clearly visible in the chart on the page that this comment thread is discussing.)
  - JoshTriplett 14y ago
    > The federal government had a huge debt to pay down after the war. Granted, but if spending had otherwise returned to the previous levels then that debt would have gone away entirely and then the new taxes along with it. That rather obviously didn't happen. :) A now-deleted sibling comment linked to the corresponding spending levels, which confirm the continued spending (note that this graph doesn't even include the debt): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Us_gov_spending_histry_by_function_1902_2010.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Us_gov_spendi...
    - jellicle 14y ago
      Among other things, the government was building the free interstate highway system and a shitload of free public schools for the baby boom generation.
      - bunderbunder 14y ago
        I suspect neither of those was anywhere near as expensive as funding the Cold War.
- njharman 14y ago
  We were still at war, son. The Cold War, gotta prove Capitalism can outspend those pinko commies. Marshall Plan et all.
  - kokey 14y ago
    Well at least they spent some of it on going to the moon and sending stuff to Mars.

smcl 14y ago

It would be nice if your after-tax pay was included in the chart alongside your tax rate and inflation-adjusted income.

citricsquid 14y ago

21.5% on $100k, are US taxes really that low?

Shivetya 14y ago
Sad to think that people feel taking a fifth of a persons productive output is low. Throw in city and state taxes and burdens can be pretty abysmal. Throw in on top of that all the embedded taxes in nearly every item you buy today and I wonder where our true tax load is. The US does not have a taxing problem, it has a spending problem. Even if the President got his wishes his tax increase on the "rich" would not net more that the US deficit spends in ONE month. If you tax 400K+ it only returns a possible 70 billion more PER YEAR!. Worse, instead of using these taxes to reduce the deficit they already have new spending lined up. So, sorry I feel that even twenty percent is pretty bad. It means for over a fifth of the year I am not working for myself. Since my effective is near thirty percent I spend an incredible amount of time working for someone else.
- maratd 14y ago
  > Throw in city and state taxes and burdens can be pretty abysmal. Ah, see, that's the problem. First, you pay federal income tax. Second, you pay state income tax. Third, you pay payroll taxes/fees. Fourth, you pay property taxes for your residence. Fifth, you pay state/county sales taxes on whatever you decide to buy. Oh, did I mention that widget you bought that came from China probably had some tariffs on it? Made in the USA? No worries. You paid for some of the federal/state payroll taxes/fees the manufacturer was responsible for.
  - maratd 14y ago
    Oops! I thought about it and I forgot one! If you live in a big city, there's a chance they have an income tax of their very own! http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/services/business_tax_nys_income.shtml http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/services/business_tax_nys_i...
- ry0ohki 14y ago
  No to mention us self employed entrepreneurs who pay the "self employment tax"

nhebb 14y ago

The tax freedom day chart - http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/tax-freedom-day http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/tax-freedom-day (scroll down a bit) is a better metric because in looks at all the taxes for the average taxpayer.

whalesalad 14y ago

This website is atrocious! If you scroll up or down slightly (easy to do with a touchpad or magic mouse) it loads another post.

jacobn 14y ago

The extremely high tax rates in the fifties and sixties give a misleading impression of the overall tax burden for high earners: http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324705104578151601554982808.html http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732470510...