There are a lot of posts on this site about taxes many of them do not rely on facts. Without comment these are the lowest and highest income tax brackets for the U.S. from the inception of income tax in 1913 until the present day. The numbers represent percent of income taken by the IRS. You may draw whatever conclusions you wish. (Source: TaxFoundation.org) Year(s) Lowest% Highest% 1913-1915 1 - 7 1916 2 - 15 1917 2 - 67 1918 6 - 77 1919 4 - 73 1920-1923 4 - 58 1924 2 - 46 1925-1931 1.5 - 25 1932-1935 4 - 63 1936-1940 4 - 79 1941 10 - 81 1942-1943 19 - 88 1944-1945 23 - 94 1946-1951 20 - 91 1952-1953 22.2 - 92 1954-1963 20 - 91 1964 16 - 77 1965-1976 14 - 70 1977-1981 0 - 70 1982-1986 0 - 50 1987 11 - 38.5 1988-1990 15 - 28 1991-1992 15 - 31 1993-2001 15 - 39.6 2002 10 - 38.6 2003-2011 10 - 35