I get some email newsletters that I'm sometimes behind on reading. I had a few spare minutes tonight to chew through some of my backlog, and I found this gem,
an original 1040 form.
I sent it out to someone who was curious enough to do the math ...
The income level at which taxation began was $20,000. At the time, at least according to him, the average income was somewhere down around $1,000.
$20,000 is 1,000 gold double eagles. A double eagle contains 0.96750 ounce of gold.
At current gold prices, that would be equivalent to close to $850,000 in 2008 fiat currency.