- Internal Revenue Code section 1
Section 1 of the
Internal Revenue Code (usc|26|1 or simply IRC §1), titled "Tax Imposed" is the law that imposes afederal income tax on taxable income, and sets forth the amount of the tax to be paid. A similar tax on corporations is set forth in IRC §11.Within the layout of the IRC, this section appears as follows:
*Subtitle A - Income Taxes (§§ 1-1563)
**Chapter 1 - Normal Taxes and Surtaxes (§§ 1-1400T)
***Subchapter A - Determination of Tax Liability (§§ 1-59A)
****Part I - Tax on Individuals (§§ 1-5)
***** Section 1 - Tax imposedBasic provisions of section 1
Section 1 imposes the Federal income tax on the "taxable income" of individuals (mainly in subsections (a) through (d)) and on the taxable income of certain estates and trusts (subsection e)).
For individuals, section 1 divides income earners into categories depending on whether they are married individuals filing jointly, married individuals filing separately, unmarried individuals, surviving spouses, or heads of households. Section 1 sets forth the formula for what amount of taxable income must be paid to the United States.
As currently worded (in mid-2006), subsections (a) through (d) actually list the tax rate schedules for the year 1993. Based in part on the provisions of subsections (f) and (i), the tax rate schedules for 1994 and subsequent years (reflecting, among other things, tax rate changes and cost of living adjustments) are promulgated by the
Internal Revenue Service . In other words, the official tax rate schedules for years 1994 and thereafter are not found in the text of section 1 itself.Example of tax rate schedule for year 1993 for "head of household"
For example, for the year 1993, §1(b) states:
(b) Heads of households
There is hereby imposed on the taxable income of every head of a household (as defined in section 2 (b)) a tax determined in accordance with the following table:
Source, Internal Revenue Service, Year 2005 Instructions for Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts, at page 23.
Changes to the tax code are frequently aimed at the provisions of IRC §1, with adjustments being made to the percentage of income taxed in each category, and the dollar amounts which trigger a higher level of taxation.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.