The top tax bracket is the income level above which the top marginal tax rate applies. In 2010 the top bracket for married filing jointly couples was $373,650. The portion of ordinary family income above this level was taxed at the top rate of 35%. The first $373,650 of family income was taxed at the lower marginal rates.
The top bracket has ranged from $29,000 to $5 million or from 1.4 times per-capita GDP to 7648 times. Currently the bracket is about 7.9 times per-capita GDP. The top bracket as a multiple of per-capita GDP has a stronger correlation with growth and job creation than as a dollar amount or an inflation adjusted dollar amount.
The top bracket to some degree represents the scope and progressivity of the tax system. When it was at $5 million it directly affected very few people, but represented a system with over 30 tax brackets.
The top bracket has its strongest positive correlation to GDP growth leading 3 years. So a higher bracket this year would be a positive influence on GDP growth 3 years from now. The correlation is shown in Figures G9 and G10.
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