Openai/69585baf-7fb8-8012-907c-372b92368fe6

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User: What was the tax rate for corporations and the top 10% of wealth in the US in the past 100 years.

What was the tax rate for corporations and the top 10% of wealth in the US in the past 100 years. Which president made the biggest impact or change to the economy with their tax policy

Assistant: Here’s a historical overview past 100 years of U.S.

Here’s a historical overview (past ~100 years) of U.S. corporate tax rates and top tax rates for the richest taxpayers (often associated with the top 10%/top marginal rate), and a look at which presidents had the biggest impact on tax policy and the economy.

📊 1. U.S. Corporate Tax Rates (Federal)

Key Points

• A federal corporate income tax was first levied in 1909 (about 1%) and expanded significantly over the 20th century. Tax Foundation
• Mid-20th century (1950s–60s): The top statutory federal corporate rate often exceeded 50% (peaking around ~52–53%). Tax Foundation
• 1980s–1990s: Major reductions lowered the top rate to 34% in the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and then to 35% in 1993. LegalClarity
• 2018 onward: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut the federal corporate rate sharply to a flat 21%. Tax Foundation

Summary Timeline (Approx):

| Era/Policy | Top Federal Corporate Tax Rate | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | 1909 | ~1% (initial) Encyclopedia Britannica | | 1930s | ~12–14% range Encyclopedia Britannica | | 1950s–60s | ~50–53% peak Tax Foundation +1 | | 1986 (Tax Reform Act) | ~34% LegalClarity | | 1993–2017 | ~35% LegalClarity | | 2018–present | 21% flat rate Tax Foundation |

💡 Effective vs statutory: Many corporations pay less than the statutory rate due to deductions, credits, and international rules; some large companies have reported effective rates in the teens or even lower. ITEP

📈 2. Top Personal Income Tax Rates (“Top 10% / Wealthy”)

Statutory Top Marginal Rates

These represent the highest marginal federal income tax rates for individual taxpayers (often associated with the top 10%/top 1%):

• 1913: First federal income tax introduced; top rate was modest (single-digit levels). Tax Policy Center
• 1930s–1940s (Great Depression & WWII): Rates jumped — early 1930s top rate ~63% under Hoover, much higher in WWII years, peaking around 94% in 1944–45. Tax Policy Center
• 1950s–1960s: Top marginal rates stayed above 90% until the early 1960s, then lowered to ~70% by mid-1960s. Wikipedia
• 1980s (Reagan era): Major reductions brought top rates down, eventually to ~28% by the late 1980s. Wikipedia
• 1990s–2000s: Top rate increased under Clinton to ~39.6% (1993–2000), then adjusted to ~35–39.6% in the 2000s. LegalClarity
• 2018–present: Top statutory rate is ~37% (current federal rate since TCJA). LegalClarity

📌 Important Distinction:

• Marginal rate = highest rate on the last dollars earned.
• Effective rate (what most wealthy actually pay after deductions/credits) is typically lower. Reddit

🧮 3. What About the “Top 10%” Specifically?

The official statutory top marginal rate applies to the very highest brackets and is often used as a proxy for how “rich” taxpayers are taxed. While the IRS doesn’t set a public yearly “top 10% rate,” historically:

• When statutory top rates were high (e.g., >90% in 1940s–50s), most of the top 10% earned far less than that threshold, so their effective rates were significantly lower. Wikipedia
• Today’s top bracket (~37%) broadly captures much of the true top 1% and very high earners — though the effective tax rate for the top 10% as a group is typically lower because many forms of income are taxed differently (capital gains vs ordinary income). Econometrics Laboratory

🧠 4. Major Presidential Tax Policymakers (and Impacts)

While Congress technically sets tax law, presidential leadership shapes direction. Here are presidents widely considered to have made large impacts on tax policy and the economy:

⭐ Franklin D. Roosevelt (1930s–40s)

• Greatly expanded income tax and brought the U.S. into a heavily progressive tax system — highest rates above 90% to fund WWII and social programs. Tax Policy Center

⭐ Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)

• Revenue Act of 1964 reduced top marginal rate (from ~91% to ~70%) and started lowering corporate taxes modestly. Wikipedia

⭐ Ronald Reagan (1981–1988)

• Major shift toward lower tax rates: top marginal income tax cut dramatically and corporate tax lowered through the Tax Reform Act of 1986, simplifying brackets. LegalClarity

⭐ Bill Clinton (1993)

• Increased the top marginal income rate to ~39.6% and raised the corporate rate to ~35%. Investopedia

⭐ Donald Trump (2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act)

• Lowered federal corporate tax rate from ~35% to 21%, and reduced some individual tax brackets. This change had one of the largest statutory corporate tax rate impacts in decades. Tax Policy Center

📌 Who Made the Biggest Economic Impact via Tax Policy?

This depends on how you judge “impact”:

| President | Major Tax Action | Economic Impact Lens | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | FDR | Created modern progressive tax structure; wartime financing | Largest expansion in fiscal taxation history | | Reagan | Deep cuts to marginal and corporate rates | Major shift toward supply-side tax policy | | Trump | Sharp corporate tax cut (21% rate) | Most recent large statutory corporate tax reduction | | Johnson | Significant mid-century rate cut | Marked long-term gearing down from postwar highs |

👉 Most economists view FDR and Reagan as the two presidents whose tax policies most reshaped the U.S. tax structure over the past century — FDR by building the high-rate, progressive system and Reagan by dramatically shrinking rates and simplifying the code. Wikipedia

📉 Summary (Simplified)

| Category | 1920s | 1950s | 1980s | 2000s | 2018–Present | | ---------------------------- | ------- | ----- | ------- | --------- | ---------------------- | | Top Corporate Rate | ~10–14% | ~50% | ~34% | ~35% | 21% Tax Foundation | | Top Marginal Individual Rate | ~7–25% | >90% | ~28–50% | ~35–39.6% | 37% Tax Policy Center |

If you want, I can also provide a visual timeline graph or a table of effective vs statutory rates over time to see how much these translated into actual tax burdens on the top 10% or top 1%.