OVERVIEW OF THE FEDERAL TAX SYSTEM AS IN EFFECT FOR 2007 Prepared by the Staff of the JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION Janu ary 12, 2007 JCX-2-07 i CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 I. SUMMARY OF PRESENT-LAW FEDERAL TAX SYSTEM........................................... 2 A. Indiv idu al Income Tax ..................................................................................................... 2 B. Corporate Income Tax ..................................................................................................... 8 C. Estate and Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax es............................................. 12 D. Employ ment Tax es........................................................................................................ 14 E. Major Ex cise Tax es........................................................................................................15 II. HISTORICAL RECEIPTS DATA...................................................................................... 16 1 INTRODUCTION This document,1 prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a summary of the present-law Federal tax system as in effect for 2007. The current Federal tax system has four main elements: (1) an income tax on individuals and corporations (which consists of both a “regular” income tax and an alternative minimum tax); (2) payroll taxes on wages (and corresponding taxes on self-employment income); (3) estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes, and (4) excise taxes on selected goods and services. This document provides a broad overview of each of these elements.2 A number of aspects of the Federal tax laws are subject to change over tim...
