W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…

Between 1868 until 1913, almost 90% of the national government’s income was gotten from taxes on whiskey and tobacco. During the Civil War the government instituted a brief income tax, but it wasn’t until 1913 that the sixteenth Amendment permitted Congress to tax incomes “from whatever sources derived.” The initial 1040’s were due on March 1, 1914. No money was taken from paychecks and no money was sent in with the return. Each taxpayer’s taxes were calculated by IRS field agents and a bill sent to the taxpayer on June 1st.

1766 – Colony leaders got together to extinguish British taxes under the Stamp Act. This Stamp Act Congress, which it was named, was the beginning of the American independence movement and the beginning of the United States.

1782 – The first Congress under the Articles of Confederation formed. This Congress did not have any powers of taxation.

1789 – Americans granted a newly formed Congress the ability to tax. Without taxing powers, the first Congress of the United States scantly survived 7 years before being declared a failed attempt; the second Congress, granted taxation powers, is currently going strong after more than two hundred years. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a CPA for Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!

1792 – Alexander Hamilton persuades Congress to pass an excise tax on whiskey to raise earned income for the government and steady the increase in drinking. In the western frontier alcohol was the traditional medium of exchange, and the twenty-five percent tax was a bit difficult to deal with. By 1794 the region was openly in revolt. The forerunner of the Internal Revenue Service was created to give the tax enforcement. Go here if you want help from a modern-day CPA firm in Raleigh, NC.

1832 – The national debt that remained from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 is paid off. The South sees no reason to continue high import taxes that raise prices for Southern consumers and increase the number of industrial monopolies in the North.

1850 – John C. Calhoun of South Carolina warns Congress that the South could leave the Union due to the fact that heavy taxation in the South raised funds that were spent in the North, creating a great change in wealth from the South to the North.

Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of the Timeline of US Tax Policy!

http://www.marccpa.com/

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• A Short Timeline of Tax Practices of the United States, Part Three
• A Lesson from History About Taxes, Section Three: Tax Law in Egypt and The Rosetta Stone
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