Zero Bracket Amount

In the United States, the amount of income not taxed before the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Taxpayers who chose not to itemize deductions subtracted the zero-bracket amount from their adjusted gross income. The amount was indexed to inflation and therefore had the potential to change every tax year. It has since been replaced by the standard deduction.

zero bracket amount

A largely outdated reference to the standard deduction.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

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References in periodicals archive

1987-1988, total deductions also include the "zero bracket amount"

standard deduction is the "zero bracket amount" (reported on

Table 7. Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2009

the "zero bracket amount" reported on the small number of prior-

subtraction of the "zero bracket amount." Starting with 1991,

Table 7. Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2008

deduction is the 'zero bracket amount" (reported on returns with

Table 7. Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2006

also includes the "zero bracket amount' reported on the small

Table 7.--Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2005

blindness), also includes the "zero bracket amount" reported an the

Table 7.--Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2004

For Tax Years 1987-1988, total deductions also include the "zero bracket amount" reported on a small number of returns (see footnote 4).

Notes to selected historical and other data tables

deduction returns, the zero bracket amount and, for 1985 data only, a

Table 1.--Individual Income Tax Returns: Selected Income and Tax Items for Specified Tax Years, 1985-2002

[21] For 1980 and 1985 data, represents "zero bracket amount" used on returns of non-itemizers.

Notes to Selected and Other Data Tables

which the "zero bracket amount" was in effect, frequencies shown for

Table 7. Standard, itemized, and total deductions reported on individual income tax returns, tax years 1950-2010

The major changes to the basic rate structure are from rate reductions, an increase in the personal exemption, and the replacement of the zero bracket amount with a standard deduction.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986