It’s interesting to think about how tax forms have changed over the years
Couldn’t even check the SSN for 13 claimed dependents, smdh.
Oakes said:
Couldn’t even check the SSN for 13 claimed dependents, smdh.
They didn’t need a SSN for dependents until 1987, and that year saw 7 million fewer dependents claimed.
Oakes said:
Couldn’t even check the SSN for 13 claimed dependents, smdh.
They didn’t need a SSN for dependents until 1987, and that year saw 7 million fewer dependents claimed.
Here’s the full 1040 for that year.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040–1941.pdf
It’s four pages long.
This isn’t really simpler than the 1040-EZ that came before the TCJA. The only extra issues are with withholding and the EITC.
Addison said:
This isn’t really simpler than the 1040-EZ that came before the TCJA. The only extra issues are with withholding and the EITC.
This form has 6 lines and can handle dependents. The 1040EZ is for those without dependents and has 14 lines. The full 1040 has 38 lines, with the first line having subparts a-z. Figuring out which form to use now is tougher than the entire 1941 form was.
Average individual earnings back then started around $1,500 a year but shot up to about $2,400 because of World War II, with many people making over $3,500 a year by 1945.
If we go back a few decades before that, things were even simpler.
Qi said:
Makes me think of Dave Barry’s three line 1040:
-
How much did you make last year?
-
How much do you have left?
-
Send it in.
I’ve had years where the second line would have asked how much I managed to save.
The government never met a tax they didn’t like. Federal income tax started as a temporary thing that was meant to go away after a few years but changed into something totally different.
Vale said:
The government never met a tax they didn’t like. Federal income tax started as a temporary thing that was meant to go away after a few years but changed into something totally different.
Some might say it got better.
Looks like the top bracket only had to pay a low 82%.
Noor said:
Looks like the top bracket only had to pay a low 82%.
And to think corporations today pay less in effective taxes than a middle-class family.
Noor said:
Looks like the top bracket only had to pay a low 82%.
And to think corporations today pay less in effective taxes than a middle-class family.
But if the owners want to access their money, they still have to pay taxes on their gains and distributions.
Chen said:
@Noor
Capital gains at 15% is still lower than a middle-class family’s income tax rate…
Right… 15% corporate tax plus 15% cap gain equals 30%.
Chen said:
@Noor
Capital gains at 15% is still lower than a middle-class family’s income tax rate…
Right… 15% corporate tax plus 15% cap gain equals 30%.
Plus another 3.8% if they are wealthy for NIIT.
@Noor
There are no capital gains for a distribution—that’s taxed at the income level. Only on a stock sale does capital gains apply.
Clancy said:
@Noor
There are no capital gains for a distribution—that’s taxed at the income level. Only on a stock sale does capital gains apply.
Corporate distributions are dividends, and those are taxed.