The Interesting History of Income Tax

The Interesting History of Income Tax William J. Federer "The only things certain are death and taxes" – Benjamin Franklin Yet few know America's interesting history of Income Tax, such as: *1787 – U.S. Constitution prohibited a "direct" Federal tax *1862 – "Revenue Tax" on incomes went into effect to finance the Union during the Civil War *1895 – Supreme Court made Income Tax unconstitutional *Woodrow Wilson thought tariffs on imports caused wars, so he worked to replace them with an Income Tax. *1913 – Income Tax was only a 1% tax on the top 1% richest people in America. *1943 – Paycheck Withholding began as an emergency effort to get funds to finance WWII. John F. Kennedy – "Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased flow of revenues to the Federal Government." (Annual Budget Message, Jan. 17, 1963) Thomas Jefferson – "It is an encouragement to proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation" (2nd Annual Message, 1802) (176 pages, includes pictures)