When was income tax started in the united states

New taxes were often introduced during times of war to raise additional revenue, but they were generally allowed to expire once the war was over.

Taxation in the United States' history can be traced back to Colonial America when the colonists were heavily taxed by Great Britain on everything from tea to newspapers. In , the Stamp Act even specified that all legal and business documents were required to bear a stamp, showing that the appropriate tax had been paid. Most colonists objected to this form of taxation since they had no political voice or input about the creation of new taxes.

This gave rise to the slogan "no taxation without representation. The history of income tax in America is an unusual one. The first federal income tax was created in during the Civil War as a mechanism to finance the war effort.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue placed excise taxes on everything from tobacco to jewelry. Following the end of the Civil War, the income tax did not have substantial support and was repealed in In the early 20th century, the income tax enjoyed renewed support and, in February of , the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, granting Congress the power to tax personal income.

The new system collected the income tax at the source, as it is done today, where taxes are initially withheld before the income reaches the recipient. In the Bureau of Internal Revenue released the first income tax form, called Form This still remains the main income tax form and it has been modified and re-issued almost every year since then learn about the evolution of Form The first year was a test run where people simply sent in their forms to have them checked by the bureau for accuracy without paying any taxes.

By , both members of Congress and the public began to voice concerns about the complexity of the income tax form, stating that it was difficult for some to prepare and file their returns.

The Revenue Act of began the practice of adjusting tax rates and income scales. The Revenue Act of also created what is widely considered the predecessor to the modern estate tax.

Learn about the history of the e-file process. In July , Congress passed the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. To the shock of conservatives, the amendment was approved by enough state legislatures so by February , U. Secretary of State Philander Knox certified the amendment's adoption. Not long after that, Congress enacted a federal income tax.

During the first several years of the tax, only 2 percent of U. Initially, the federal tax day was March 1, but in , Congress changed it to March In , Congress moved it back another month, to April Multiple taxes were created in the s and s:. The alternative minimum tax AMT , a type of federal income tax, wasn't enacted until It was designed to prevent taxpayers from avoiding their fair share of taxes. Tax rates tend to change—often for the worse. It's a fact Americans must always consider whenever they are faced with the threat of a new tax.

Tax rates were the same for everyone and there was no filing status. This meant everyone paid the same rate whether they were single, married, or heads of households. But all that changed over time. Modern tax rates also depend on filing status. Because cigarette and alcohol taxes are built into the prices of these products, many Americans don't even know they're paying them. Federal tobacco taxes were first enacted in , but came and went over the years until That year, a box of 20 cigarettes was taxed at 0.

States also tax cigarettes. Since cigarette and alcohol taxes are built into their prices, many Americans don't realize they're paying them.

Spirits, wine, and beer are each taxed at different rates by both the federal and state governments. The government started taxing cigarettes and alcohol to pay back the debts it incurred during the Revolutionary War. However, social purposes have also long influenced the taxation of these items. The higher the tax, the more likely Americans are to be discouraged from consuming tobacco and alcohol.

But because tobacco and alcohol taxes are flat taxes , they fall disproportionately on the poor. In other words, it is mostly the poor who are discouraged from using tobacco and alcohol, because other income groups can afford to pay the higher taxes.

If the government taxes behavior it wants to discourage, why does it tax gasoline? After all, gas taxes were implemented long before the environmental movement kicked in.

Federal excise taxes on gasoline were implemented in June under President Herbert Hoover as part of the Revenue Act of As its name implies, this act was designed to increase the amount of money the government had at its disposal.

In , gas was taxed at a rate of 1 cent per gallon. Taxing investment income might seem particularly counterproductive since investment is necessary for economic growth , but that hasn't stopped the government from including it under its wide umbrella of taxable income.

Capital gains taxes were enacted in , along with the income tax. They reappeared in and have persisted ever since. History is full of tax rebellions. Back in , taxes sparked Americans to destroy three shiploads of British tea. And in , Alexander Hamilton's proposed excise tax on alcohol was enough to prompt the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. Two days earlier, on August 3, After several unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean is completed, a feat accomplished largely through the efforts of American merchant Cyrus West Field.

The telegraph was first developed by Samuel F. Morse, an artist-turned-inventor who She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand.

Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief On August 5, , Polish insurgents liberate a German forced-labor camp in Warsaw, freeing Jewish prisoners, who join in a general uprising against the German occupiers of the city. By August 4, the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies—some 34 divisions of men—were in the process of