U.S. Taxing History
Today’s post will be a short discussion on the entity that everyone loves to hate, the Internal Revenue Service. It is important to take note however that the IRS does not make the laws. They enforce the laws made by representatives that we send to Washington DC on our behalf. If you think a law needs to be changed or the tax system should be reformed, contact your senator and representative.
For a quick history of taxes in the United States, you can visit this page on the IRS website. President Lincoln was the first president to impose an income tax. The Supreme Court shot down the law as Unconstitutional shortly after it was implemented. During the early 1900s, an amendment to the Constitution was created to allow Congress to levy taxes on individuals without regard to the population of a state. Many tax protestors claim that this amendment was never properly ratified. It’s not true, but makes for a fun story. The 16th ammendment to our Consitutional was officially approved in 1913. Originally, tax rates ranged up to 77%. You can see a history of tax rate brackets here.
The newest inititatives are to get the entire country to file tax returns electronically. Not only does the “green” the IRS, it saves millions of dollars per year in printing and mailing and handling costs. By eliminating these extra costs, taxpayers can essentially remove yet another tax from the system. Filing on paper is so fraught with potential errors. There is simply no way see how all the forms interact to pay the smallest legal amount of taxes possible.
On a side note, please click the “Follow me on Twitter” link on the right side of this page. I publish a daily tax thought which often end up as the inspiration for future blog posts.
