In the very beginning, Income tax including the IRS were not well rec'd by the majority of Americans. It was of very little concern to most as it was thought of by most as being unconstitutional. So no big deal! The government was always authorized to collect taxes to "pay for debt and provide for the common welfare of the United States". That was the full extent of the powers the government had..to tax the states. The government had no right in its early years to tax people according to income. Even then, the majority of the population was against any sort of personal income tax. It was a hot topic and debated vigorously by the congress. It took decades, but relentlessly, the government did not give up on income taxes.
Finally, at the turn of the 19th century, Americans sort of gave up and proclaimed, it was OK to begin a tax....so long as the tax was only applied against the very rich. It was looked upon as a redistribution of money from the rich to pay for the common good. (Is this beginning to sound familiar?) The common folk said go ahead - tax the rich.
This taxation effort was taken all the way to the Supreme Court by level headed thinkers who challenged an income tax; remember, most thought of the tax as being unconstitutional and it was only for the rich. Luckily, the Supreme Court ruled that levying an income tax was, in fact, "unconstitutional.
To make a longer story short, it wasn't until 1913, when 36 states ratified the 16th amendment and created the infamous Income Tax. Again, people were in no real uproar and basically fell into line because they knew that the vast majority would not be taxed. Everyone knew the rich were they only ones that would be taxed. So no big deal! In fact, in 1913 the average rate paid was less than $100.00.
Well, knowing the government and the sweet deal they now had to collect money, Woodrow Wilson gave more powers to the IRS to do what they do best - collect money. And the rest is history!
Do you still really believe the new Health Care laws will lead to lowering our premium costs. Remember, the constitutionality of this new law is contentious as was Income Tax...but the government got 'r done!
Finally, at the turn of the 19th century, Americans sort of gave up and proclaimed, it was OK to begin a tax....so long as the tax was only applied against the very rich. It was looked upon as a redistribution of money from the rich to pay for the common good. (Is this beginning to sound familiar?) The common folk said go ahead - tax the rich.
This taxation effort was taken all the way to the Supreme Court by level headed thinkers who challenged an income tax; remember, most thought of the tax as being unconstitutional and it was only for the rich. Luckily, the Supreme Court ruled that levying an income tax was, in fact, "unconstitutional.
To make a longer story short, it wasn't until 1913, when 36 states ratified the 16th amendment and created the infamous Income Tax. Again, people were in no real uproar and basically fell into line because they knew that the vast majority would not be taxed. Everyone knew the rich were they only ones that would be taxed. So no big deal! In fact, in 1913 the average rate paid was less than $100.00.
Well, knowing the government and the sweet deal they now had to collect money, Woodrow Wilson gave more powers to the IRS to do what they do best - collect money. And the rest is history!
Do you still really believe the new Health Care laws will lead to lowering our premium costs. Remember, the constitutionality of this new law is contentious as was Income Tax...but the government got 'r done!
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