Monday, February 04, 2013

Income Tax Turns 100

Yippee.

February 3 was the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913. Its champion was President William Howard Taft, and its ratification was an effort to make sure more higher-income people paid taxes, and that the government wasn’t wholly dependent on tariffs and taxes on goods.

It wasn’t the first national income tax that was enacted. In fact, it was the third. But this third attempt had the power of a constitutional amendment behind it, and it’s still in force today.

The Founding Fathers and the generation of leaders that followed them weren’t big on the idea of an income tax. Tariffs and sales taxes helped fund the federal government in the early days.

But the financial needs of the Civil War led to the first national income tax.

(8) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0653 hrs
Politics + Politics - General

  1. I think the income tax was supposed to be temporary, maybe it’ll be removed next year.
    Brian.

    Posted by Brian on February 04, 2013 at 1316 hrs


  2. There is nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.

    —-Milton Friedman

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 04, 2013 at 1424 hrs


  3. Like our temporary County sales tax!  These folks are addicted to OPM (pronounced opium) Other People’s Money.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 04, 2013 at 1614 hrs


  4. Opium, that’s funny.
    I’ve used plenty of OPM. The only difference is that it was freely given and will be returned with a significant multiplier.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on February 04, 2013 at 2153 hrs


  5. W.H. Macy gave FDR the idea to take a little out of each check so people would not realize what a big chunk of one’s income is actually being confiscated.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2013 at 1430 hrs


  6. WH Macy? The guy from Fargo and Pleasantville and Boogie Nights?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2013 at 2236 hrs


  7. uh, no Macy’s Dept. Store

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 06, 2013 at 1104 hrs


  8. There is always a change in the government program where we can not predict anything which accountable in the future gains.Home Improvement

    Posted by VVRam on February 23, 2013 at 0940 hrs


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