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Originally Posted by 2sleepy
In regards to the image posted by Ellis Bell which claimed that until 1913 Americans kept most of their earnings etc...
From 1791 to 1802, the United States government was supported by internal taxes on distilled spirits, carriages, refined sugar, tobacco and snuff, property sold at auction, corporate bonds, and slaves. The high cost of the War of 1812 brought about the nation's first sales taxes on gold, silverware, jewelry, and watches. In 1817, however, Congress did away with all internal taxes, relying on tariffs on imported goods to provide sufficient funds for running the government.
In 1862, in order to support the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation's first income tax law. During the Civil War, a person earning from $600 to $10,000 per year paid tax at the rate of 3%. Those with incomes of more than $10,000 paid taxes at a higher rate. Additional sales and excise taxes were added, and an “inheritance” tax also made its debut. In 1866, internal revenue collections reached their highest point in the nation's 90-year history—more than $310 million, an amount not reached again until 1911.
The Act of 1862 established the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Commissioner was given the power to assess, levy, and collect taxes, and the right to enforce the tax laws through seizure of property and income and through prosecution. The powers and authority remain very much the same today.
In 1868, Congress again focused its taxation efforts on tobacco and distilled spirits and eliminated the income tax in 1872. It had a short-lived revival in 1894 and 1895. In the latter year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the income tax was unconstitutional because it was not apportioned among the states in conformity with the Constitution.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution made the income tax a permanent fixture in the U.S. tax system.
History of the Income Tax in the United States
So it seems pretty clear that people paid taxes long before 1913, either in the form of income or excise taxes. |
Yes, and after 1913 with the establishment of a Central Bank, we now call the FED that is a privately held institution, one might as themselves, what do our tax dollars pay for really?
American Experience | Alexander Hamilton | People & Events | Establishing A National Bank | PBS
Thomas Jefferson, "an infinity of successive felonious larcenies," ...
But, people don't want to know that ... because if they did, they might want those tax dollars returned to them, then where would the government be with empty pockets and no workers to help fill them?