History
| Tax year | Deduction amount |
|---|---|
| 1987 | $1,900 |
| 1988 | $1,950 |
| 1989 | $2,000 |
| 1990 | $2,050 |
| 1991 | $2,150 |
| 1992 | $2,300 |
| 1993 | $2,350 |
| 1994 | $2,450 |
| 1995 | $2,500 |
| 1996 | $2,550 |
| 1997 | $2,650 |
| 1998 | $2,700 |
| 1999 | $2,750 |
| Tax year | Deduction amount |
|---|---|
| 2000 | $2,800 |
| 2001 | $2,900 |
| 2002 | $3,000 |
| 2003 | $3,050 |
| 2004 | $3,100 |
| 2005 | $3,200 |
| 2006 | $3,300 |
| 2007 | $3,400 |
| 2008 | $3,500 |
| 2009 | $3,650 |
| 2010 | $3,650 |
| 2011 | $3,700 |
| 2012 | $3,800 |
The personal exemption amount in 1894 was $4,000 ($80,000 in 2005 dollars). That tax was declared unconstitutional in 1895. The tax in its present form which began around 1913 had a personal exemption amount of $3,000 ($57,000 in 2005 dollars), or $4,000 for married couples.
Over time the amount of the exemption has increased and decreased depending on political policy and the need for tax revenue. Since the Depression, the exemption has increased steadily, but not enough to keep up with inflation. Despite the intent of the exemption, the amounts are also less than half of the poverty line.
The exemption amounts for years 1987 through 2012 are as shown at right.
The exemption amounts for years 1913 through 2006 are available at http://taxfoundation.org/article/federal-individual-income-tax-exemptions-and-treatment-dividends-1913-2006.
Read more about this topic: Personal Exemption (United States)
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““And now this is the way in which the history of your former life has reached my ears!” As he said this he held out in his hand the fatal letter.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)