Wealth Tax Act

Examples of Wealth Tax Act in the following topics:

• Social Security and Tax Reform

  • Roosevelt pushed for a number of tax programs that would impose high income taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
  • The most important program of 1935, and perhaps the New Deal as a whole, was the Social Security Act, drafted by Francis Perkins.
  • Compared with the social security systems in western European countries, the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative.
  • In 1935, Roosevelt called for a tax program called the Wealth Tax Act (Revenue Act of 1935) to redistribute wealth.
  • The Undistributed Profits tax was enacted in 1936.

• The Second New Deal

  • The National Labor Relations Act revived and strengthened the protections of collective bargaining in the original National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
  • In 1935, Roosevelt called for the Wealth Tax Act (Revenue Act of 1935) to redistribute wealth.
  • The bill imposed an income tax of 79% on incomes over $5 million.
  • The Undistributed Profits tax was enacted in 1936.
  • Paid dividends were tax deductible by corporations.

• Toward a Welfare State

  • Perhaps the most important and influential program of the New Deal was the 1935 Social Security Act (SSA).
  • In 1935, Roosevelt called for a tax program called the Wealth Tax Act (Revenue Act of 1935) to redistribute wealth.
  • This highest tax rate covered just one individual, John D.
  • In 1936, Roosevelt also pushed for a tax on undistributed corporate profits.  
  • Paid dividends were tax deductible by corporations.

• Tax Protests

  • A series of taxing legislation during the colonial era set off a series of actions between colonists and Great Britain.
  • Tax loads in practice were very light, and far lower than in England.
  • The first wave of protests attacked the Stamp Act of 1765, and marked the first time Americans from each of the thirteen colonies met together and planned a common front against illegal taxes.
  • The Parliament attempted a series of taxes and punishments which met more and more resistance, namely the First Quartering Act (1765), the Declaratory Act (1766), the Townshend Revenue Act (1767), and the Tea Act (1773).
  • In response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts: the Second Quartering Act (1774), the Quebec Act (1774), the Massachusetts Government Act (1774), the Administration of Justice Act (1774), the Boston Port Act (1774), and the Prohibitory Act (1775).

• The Mercantalist System

  • The government took its share through duties and taxes with the remainder going to merchants in Britain.
  • Under British mercantilism, the government and the merchants became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires.
  • Among the provisions, the Acts required that any colonial imports or exports travel only on ships registered in England.
  • The colonies could not import anything manufactured outside of England unless the goods were first taken to England, where taxes were paid.
  • The Navigation Acts expelled foreign merchants from England's domestic trade.

• The Tariff

  • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 re-imposed the federal income tax, and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%.
  • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 (also known as the Tariff Act, Underwood Tariff or Underwood-Simmons Act) re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment.
  • The Act also provided for the re-institution of a federal income tax as a means of compensating for anticipated lost revenue due to the reduction of tariff duties.
  • Under the Revenue Act, the incomes of couples exceeding $4,000, as well as those of single persons earning $3,000 or more, were subject to a one percent federal tax.
  • Within a few years after the Revenue Act was implemented, the federal income tax replaced tariffs as the chief source of revenue for the government.

• Trade and Economy

  • Mercantilism meant that the government and merchants based in England became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires and even merchants based in its own colonies.
  • The government had to fight smuggling, especially by American merchants, some of whose activities (which included direct trade with the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese) were classified as such by the Navigation Acts.
  • The government took its share through duties and taxes, with the remainder going to merchants in Britain.

• The Stamp Act

  • The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America.
  • Opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies.
  • Parliament announced in April 1764 when the Sugar Act was passed that they would also consider a stamp tax in the colonies.
  • The novelty of the Stamp Act was that it was the first internal tax, that is, a tax based entirely on activities within the colonies, levied directly on the colonies by Parliament.
  • Because of its potential wide application to the colonial economy, the Stamp Act was judged by the colonists to be a more dangerous assault on their rights than the Sugar Act was.

• The Social Problem

  • As an alternative, he proposes his own solution: a single tax on land values.
  • This would be a tax on the annual value of land held as private property.
  • It would be high enough to allow for all other taxes-- especially upon labor and production-- to be abolished.
  • George argued that a land value tax would give landowners an incentive to use the land in a productive way, thereby employing labor and creating wealth, or to sell the land to those who could and would themselves use the land in a productive way.
  • Henry George proposed a "single tax" that would be leveled on the rich and poor alike, with the excess money collected used to equalize wealth and level out society.

• The Sugar and Stamp Acts

  • When passed by Parliament, the new Sugar Act of 1764 halved the previous tax on molasses.
  • Parliament announced with the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764 that they would also consider a stamp tax in the colonies.
  • The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America.
  • Similar to the Sugar Act, the purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War.
  • The novelty of the Stamp Act was that it was the first internal tax—that is, a tax based entirely on activities within the colonies and levied directly on the colonies by Parliament.