Déjà vu, all over again. No politics here, just the history.
A few threads run through all of it. The top tax rate was 70% when this timeline begins and is 37% today, and the bottom rate went from 14% to 10%. Social Security benefits were untaxed until 1984. The IRA, the 401(k), the Roth IRA, the child tax credit and the home-sale exclusion were each created by one of these laws. And the minimum tax of 1969, written to catch 155 wealthy people who paid nothing, grew into an alternative minimum tax that reached millions before 2017 cut it back.
The timeline
- 1969
Tax Reform Act of 1969
A minimum tax on the wealthy, new rules for private foundations, and a bigger standard deduction — the year the Tax Shop opened.
Signed by President Nixon
- 1974–78
ERISA and the Revenue Act of 1978
Two laws nobody thought were tax reform created the accounts most Americans now retire on.
Signed by President Ford, Carter
- 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act
A 23% across-the-board rate cut, the top rate from 70% to 50%, and the end of bracket creep.
Signed by President Reagan
- 1982–84
TEFRA and the Social Security Amendments
Part of 1981 was rolled back, and for the first time retirees paid income tax on their benefits.
Signed by President Reagan
- 1986
Tax Reform Act of 1986
Fourteen brackets became two, the top rate fell to 28%, and the passive loss rules ended the real estate tax shelter.
Signed by President Reagan
- 1990–93
The 1990 and 1993 budget acts
The 31%, 36% and 39.6% brackets, the Medicare cap removed, and a bigger share of Social Security taxed.
Signed by President Bush, Clinton
- 1997
Taxpayer Relief Act
The Roth IRA, the child tax credit, and $250,000 of tax-free gain on the sale of a home.
Signed by President Clinton
- 2001–12
The Bush tax cuts and the fiscal cliff
Rate cuts written to expire, extended twice, and mostly made permanent on New Year’s Day 2013.
Signed by President G.W. Bush, Obama
- 2010
Affordable Care Act
The premium tax credit, the 3.8% investment tax, and the 0.9% Medicare surtax.
Signed by President Obama
- 2015
PATH Act
Section 179, the research credit and a dozen other breaks made permanent after a decade of expiring every year.
Signed by President Obama
- 2017
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The 21% corporate rate, the doubled standard deduction, the SALT cap, and the 20% deduction for business owners — with most of it set to expire in 2025.
Signed by President Trump
- 2019–22
SECURE, CARES, the pandemic, SECURE 2.0
The end of the stretch IRA, stimulus payments and the employee retention credit, later RMDs, and the energy credits.
Signed by President Trump, Biden
- 2025
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
The expiring 2018 rules made permanent, a $40,000 SALT cap, new deductions for tips, overtime and seniors, and the end of the energy credits.
Signed by President Trump
The rates, in one table
| Year | Top individual rate | Bottom rate | Top corporate rate | Top long-term capital gains rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 70% | 14% | 48% | 25% (first $50,000), rising to 35% by 1972 |
| 1979 | 70% | 14% | 46% | 28% |
| 1982 | 50% | 12% | 46% | 20% |
| 1988 | 28% (33% in the “bubble”) | 15% | 34% | 28% |
| 1993 | 39.6% | 15% | 35% | 28% |
| 1998 | 39.6% | 15% | 35% | 20% |
| 2003 | 35% | 10% | 35% | 15% |
| 2013 | 39.6% | 10% | 35% | 20% + 3.8% |
| 2018 | 37% | 10% | 21% | 20% + 3.8% |
| 2026 | 37% (permanent) | 10% | 21% | 20% + 3.8% |
Statutory rates on ordinary income; the effective rate anyone paid depended on exemptions, deductions and credits that changed just as often.
Things that came and went
- The deduction for consumer interest — credit cards, car loans — ended in 1986 and never returned.
- The personal exemption rose from $600 to over $4,000 and then, in 2018, to zero; the 2025 law left it there.
- Income averaging for people with a big year ended in 1986 (farmers and fishermen got it back later).
- The two-earner deduction for married couples lasted from 1982 to 1986.
- The 60% capital gains exclusion was replaced by lower rates in 1986, and the rates have moved five times since.
- The estate tax went from a $60,000 exemption in 1969 to $15 million in 2026, and was repealed for one year, 2010.
- The charitable deduction for non-itemizers has been enacted three times: 1982, 2020 and 2025.