Posted on 04/15/2022 1:09:42 PM PDT by zeugma
In 1913 the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It was a fairly short amendment, as such things go, weighing in at a whopping 30 words. It reads as follows:
The Congress shall have 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.
It was a simple little thing, with rather large consequences for the republic. Prior to the income tax being instituted, the United States government managed to fund itself with various excise taxes, and duties on imports. Afterwards, such taxes pale into insignificance to the revenue generated by the income tax.
Those of us who actually pay taxes are familiar with the 1040 form. It was way back in 1913 that the IRS (Infernal Revenue Service) unvelied this form. The modern form (PDF) is a two page document that requires an instruction manual that is 104 pages long. This does not include all the ancillary schedule forms and their associated instructions.
The 1913 form (PDF) was actually longer, being three pages in length, however the instructions were printed on a single page of paper, and much of the first page was essentially the rate table.
Back in 1913, there were 6 tax brackets.Those making under $20,000 per year paid no tax. According to this inflation calculator, $20,000 in 1913 was equivalent to $580,816.16 in 2022. This first $20k was subtracted from your income so even if you made $30,000, you were only taxed on the last $10,000 of it.
Feel free to print this out, and fill it out with your information for this year. Even with our grossly inflated currency, your tax bill will be significantly lower than what Fedgov is demanding of you today.
Another “gift” from the Woodrow Wilson tyranny of liberal “academic elites” in government.
I'm all for the Flat Tax, or even the "Flatter Tax."
After Trump's tax reforms, I no longer have enough deductions, even with my home mortgage interest payments, to exceed the Standard Deduction.
The 1913 form link points to a 2014 form.
Here is the 1913 form
https://www.zeugmaweb.net/histdocs/1040-1913.pdf
Go to a fixed proportional tax. You could file your return on a postcard. Best of all, the gov’t can’t distort the allocation of resources with a proportional tax.
Your link goes to the 2014 form?
I once asked some coworkers if they knew what their gross pay was. Without exception they only knew their net pay. If people received a monthly bill for their taxes instead of having them automatically taken out there was be an uprising. Income was never meant to be taxed. You’re right. What we have now should really be referred to as a slave tax.
“Those making under $20,000 per year paid no tax.”
Based on inflation tables, that’s equivalent to almost $600,000 per year in 2022 dollars.
If there must be an income tax it should be flat (a single straight percentage for everyone regardless of income and regardless of source of income), and universal - no exemptions, exclusions, deductions or credits; just a simple straight flat tax everyone pays.
The first victory of the Communists in America.
Since when was the 4th Amendment abolished and the citizenry required to report their earnings to the All Powerful, All Knowing State?
The one we supposedly control through our votes.
I’m a huge fan of a flat tax, but it will never happen. Too many americans (attorneys, accountants, IT developers, managers, etc.) make their living off the federal tax system. And they are all white or gray collar. There is no way those hobs will ever be eliminated by the flick of a pen.
Tax reforms such as you mention have been talked about over the years. But we never see the political will to take these actions.
I wonder if it’s because people are afraid of losing their home mortgage interest deduction, property tax deduction, income tax deductions, charitable contributions deductions, and others.
And for businesses, if we were to say that businesses could no longer take depreciation deductions, and other deductions for business expenses, that would be a major change for the business world to absorb.
There’s a reason that decade gets so little coverage in history classes in publik skrewls...
Like I said, after Trump's tax reforms, it's been the Standard Deduction on my 1040 the last couple of years after almost 35 years of deducting mortgage interest and other expenses and charitable contributions.
We're almost there now.
“If there must be an income tax it should be flat (a single straight percentage for everyone regardless of income and regardless of source of income), and universal - no exemptions, exclusions, deductions or credits; just a simple straight flat tax everyone pays.”
Agree. That way, even the poorest have money in the game when our corrupt congress critters try to pass a tax increase. (Note: “Corrupt” was not needed in that description, it is self-evident.)
How ‘bout no tax on income. Rather, the federal government should send a tax bill to the various states apportioned based on the number of representatives from each state. Each state can then decide how to raise the revenue needed to pay their bill.
Based on last year's revenues of $4.046 trillion, that would work out to $9.1 billion per representative.
However, expenditures were $6.818 trillion which is $15.7 billion per representative.
I won't be so lucky when I have to start taking mandatory deductions from my IRA! But I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.You are absolutely correct to tie this directly to communism. The 16th Amendment enshrined the Second Plank of Communism (text above) in the US Constitution. Before this, the federal government was funded by tariffs, which greatly limited its size and prevented it from growing into a leviathan.
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