I then asked this, "What was the original income tax amount and who had to pay the first income taxes?"

[This is 100% how the government works. We are going after the Big Bad Rich! We'll only tax the wealthy! And all the people say, yeah, and support it. The smart wealthy people use business entities and invest their profits each year to minimize their tax burden and then when the taxes need to include more and more people to make sure the government is funded. The dumbshits that bought into the lie end up paying the taxes and then complain and fall for the next boondoggle. Repeat, repeat, repeat.]

The original income tax established after the ratification of the 16th Amendment was introduced through the Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Underwood Tariff Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913. Here’s the breakdown:

Tax Amount

• The initial income tax imposed a 1% tax rate on taxable net income above $3,000 for individuals (equivalent to roughly $90,000 in 2025 dollars, adjusted for inflation).
• For married couples, the threshold was $4,000 (about $120,000 today).
• A progressive surtax was added for higher incomes, ranging from 1% to 6% on income exceeding certain levels, with the top rate of 6% applying to incomes over $500,000 (around $15 million today).
• The total tax rate, combining the base rate and surtax, maxed out at 7% for the wealthiest earners.

Who Had to Pay

• Individuals and couples with incomes above the exemptions ($3,000 for singles, $4,000 for married couples) were subject to the tax. These thresholds were deliberately set high, meaning only about 1-2% of the U.S. population—roughly 350,000 to 700,000 people out of a population of 97 million—had to pay initially.
• The tax primarily targeted wealthy individuals and high earners, such as industrialists, bankers, and professionals, reflecting the progressive intent of the law to shift some tax burden from tariffs (which hit lower-income consumers harder) to direct income taxation.
• Businesses and corporations were also subject to a 1% tax on net profits exceeding $5,000, but this was separate from the personal income tax.

Context

At the time, most Americans earned far less than the exemption thresholds—average annual wages were around $800—so the tax was designed to affect only the affluent. Filing was simple: taxpayers submitted a Form 1040 (yes, it existed back then), and the system relied heavily on self-reporting with minimal enforcement mechanisms initially.

This structure evolved over time, especially with World War I, when rates increased and exemptions dropped to fund the war effort, broadening the tax base significantly. But in 1913, it was a narrow, elite-focused tax.