The modern income tax system has been called a lot of things, and now it also can officially be called a centenarian.
The current tax system was formalized 100 years ago this month, when the 16th Amendment was ratified. (See the original 1040 form here.)
Before income taxes, the government was mainly getting its money from tariffs and sin taxes on things like alcohol and tobacco, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts.
Some argued that meant the middle and lower class were being disproportionately burdened by taxes, while the upper class wasn't carrying enough of the burden.
"It was really a fairness tool. It was also a revenue tool," Thorndike said. "Those same people who thought it would be fair thought it would raise a lot of money."......
https://www.cnbc.com/id/100435079
Pretty amazing that some thing that started out fairly simply has become such a lengthy bastardized form of it's original self. Cuurently at around 72,000 pages from 400 pages in 1913
The current tax system was formalized 100 years ago this month, when the 16th Amendment was ratified. (See the original 1040 form here.)
Before income taxes, the government was mainly getting its money from tariffs and sin taxes on things like alcohol and tobacco, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts.
Some argued that meant the middle and lower class were being disproportionately burdened by taxes, while the upper class wasn't carrying enough of the burden.
"It was really a fairness tool. It was also a revenue tool," Thorndike said. "Those same people who thought it would be fair thought it would raise a lot of money."......
https://www.cnbc.com/id/100435079
Pretty amazing that some thing that started out fairly simply has become such a lengthy bastardized form of it's original self. Cuurently at around 72,000 pages from 400 pages in 1913
