New Energy Articles Blog

Dec

2009

A Brief Timeline of Taxation of the US, Section 1

Author: admin

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

Between 1868 to 1913, about ninety percent of the federal government’s revenue was derived from tax on alcohol and tobacco. During the Civil War there was a brief income tax, but it was not until 1913 that the sixteenth Amendment was passed and enabled Congress to tax incomes “from whatever sources attained.” The first 1040’s were due on March 1, 1914. No money was withheld from paychecks and no money was sent away with the return. Every taxpayer’s taxes were checked by IRS field agents and a bill sent to the taxpayer on the first of June.

1766 - Colony leaders got together to extinguish British taxes under the Stamp Act. This Stamp Act Congress, as it was called, marked the start of the American independence movement and the beginning of the modern U.S.

1782 - The first Congress under the Articles of Confederation formed. This Congress had no taxing powers.

1789 - Americans gave a new Congress taxing powers. Without taxing powers, the first Congress of the United States barely lasted 7 years prior to being declared a failure; the second Congress, with taxing powers, is still 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 coerces Congress into passing an excise tax on whiskey to raise revenue and curb drinking. On the western frontier alcohol was the traditional mode of exchange, and the twenty-five percent tax was a bit difficult to deal with. By 1794 the region was in open 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 after the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 is paid off. The South sees no reason to continue high import taxes that raise the price on goods 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 might secede from the Union due to the fact that the overly oppressive taxing of the South raised funds that were spent in the North, creating a massive 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/