what was america s first windfall tax 
during world war i before the u s entered the war in 1917 u s steel and dupont s annual profits increased by more than 1 000 each and pressure grew for a war efforts profit tax instituted in october 1917 the tax raised nearly 7 billion in revenue nearly 40 of all funds raised for the war and was the largest source of wartime taxation as larger companies found ways around the tax smaller companies were more affected the tax was abolished in 1921 the bottom linewindfall taxes will always be a contentious issue debated between the shareholders of profitable companies and the rest of society the massive net income increase for oil and natural gas producers the international energy agency estimates will double from 2021 to 2022 hitting an unprecedented 2 trillion is the current trigger for the discussion currently it is exxon s shareholders who have benefited they received a higher dividend raised after the company announced a nearly 20 billion profit just for july to september windfall taxes can be imposed on companies in certain segments of the economy such as oil and gas that benefit from situations such as commodity shortages that greatly increase the prices of their products at the expense of consumers individuals may also owe tax on a windfall depending on its source and the tax laws of the federal government or their state or locality 