An income tax was first collected during the Civil War from 1862 to 1872. During the administration of President Grover Cleveland, the federal government again levied an income tax, enacted by Congress in 1894. However, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year. Supporters of an income tax were forced then to embark on the lengthy process of amending the Constitution. Not until the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913 was Congress given the power “to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.”
One thought on “Tax Day”
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You know, I don’t mind paying a fair tax to keep up the infrastructure and run the government but the complexity of the tax system has been set up in a way that only the people who can afford savvy accountants to file their taxes are able to take advantage of any benefits and/or loopholes. I say a fair flat tax is in order- but the simplicity of it would 1. make the wealthiest people pay their fair share and they wouldn’t allow that and 2. put the tax preparers out of work so I’m sure someone has their back and is lobbying on their behalf. And that is my rant for the day. Beware the Ides of April!