Revenue Act of 1918

E129823

The Revenue Act of 1918 was a major U.S. federal tax law that sharply increased income and excess profits taxes to help finance American involvement in World War I and reshape the nation’s fiscal policy.

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All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Revenue Act of 1918 canonical 2

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
tax law
administeredBy Internal Revenue Service
surface form: Bureau of Internal Revenue
appliesToJurisdiction United States government
surface form: United States federal government
chamber United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
codifiedIn Internal Revenue Code
surface form: United States internal revenue laws
containsProvision amortization of war facilities
changes to estate and inheritance taxation
rules for consolidated corporate returns
surtaxes on high incomes
taxation of partnerships
country United States of America
surface form: United States
effectiveYear 1919
enactedDuringConflict World War I
enactmentYear 1918
historicalSignificance helped establish income tax as central source of federal revenue
major expansion of federal tax system during World War I
marked shift toward more permanent mass-based federal taxation
increased corporate income tax rates
excess profits tax rates
individual income tax rates
introducedConcept broader tax base for federal income taxation
modern graduated individual income tax structure
language English
legalArea tax law
legislativeBody United States Congress
policyType progressive taxation
predecessor Revenue Act of 1916
Revenue Act of 1917
surface form: War Revenue Act of 1917
presidentDuringEnactment Woodrow Wilson
primaryPurpose to increase excess profits tax revenues
to increase federal income tax revenues
to raise revenue to finance American participation in World War I
to reshape United States fiscal policy
relatedTo Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
replacedBy Revenue Act of 1921
signedBy Woodrow Wilson
subject corporate income tax
estate tax
excess profits tax
excise taxes
federal income tax
tax administration
war profits taxation
withholding at source
timePeriod Progressive Era
topMarginalIndividualIncomeTaxRate 77 percent
topMarginalIndividualIncomeTaxRateAppliesTo very high incomes

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Woodrow Wilson administration notablePolicy Revenue Act of 1918
65th United States Congress enacted Revenue Act of 1918