In addition, taxpayers are subject to the net investment income tax if they earn more than $200,000 for singles and heads of household, $250,000 for married couples filing jointly and qualifying widowers with dependent children, and $125,000 for married couples filing separately, effectively creating 18.8% and 23.8% brackets.
With the Revenue Act of 1936 through 1953, dividends were subject to all income taxation again at the individual level.
From 1985 to 2002, dividends were fully taxed under ordinary income rates, without any exemption.
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended for two additional years the changes enacted to the taxation of qualified dividends in the JGTRRA and TIPRA.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (signed on January 2, 2013) made qualified dividends a permanent part of the tax code but added a 20% rate on income in the new highest 39.6% tax bracket.