Today, the individual income tax is the single most important source of federal revenue, but it wasn’t always that way. In 1936, excise taxes, such as tobacco and alcohol taxes, brought in more than any other revenue source. Then, in 1943, the corporate income tax briefly became the most important source of federal revenue.
But since the end of World War II, the story of American tax policy has been the rising importance of taxes on individual income. Today, 47 percent of all federal revenue comes from the individual income tax, while payroll taxes account for another 33 percent…Continue Reading Income Taxes Illustrated
