The Democrats’ Wealth-Tax Mirage - WSJ Opinion

The first income tax enacted after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 had seven tax brackets with rates from 1% on income over $3,000 ($83,972 in current dollars) to 7% on income exceeding $500,000 ($14 million). You know what rates are now. The alternative minimum tax also only applied initially to the richest Americans, but with time expanded to hit millions in the middle class.