Politics & Government
Tomorrow is Tax Day!
Normally due on April 15, this year Tax Day was pushed off two extra days for several reasons.
Tomorrow some residents of will frantically be racing to finalize their income taxes for Uncle Sam. While some of us have already received a refund or sent a check for what is owed, others will be scurrying about to find receipts and other papers, calculate numbers and fill out the tax forms.
How did all this tax stuff start anyway?
Money was needed to fund the American Civil War, so the U.S. government introduced the income tax on August 5, 1861. The Revenue Act of 1861 imposed a 3 percent tax on incomes from $600 to $10,000 per year; and those with incomes of more than $10,000 paid a 5 percent tax. However, the tax was seen as unconstitutional and was repealed in 1872.
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In 1894, Congress placed a flat tax on personal income at a rate of 2 percent. It was ruled unconstitutional the next year by the U.S. Supreme Court because, at that time, all federal taxes had to be based on state population. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was passed by Congress on July 2, 1909 and ratified Feb. 3, 1913. It allowed the federal government to tax an individual’s income without regard to the population of each state, thus becoming a permanent fixture in the U.S. tax system.
In 1913, tax day was set at March 1 following the passage of the 16th Amendment, then changed to March 15 in 1918 and finally to the present April 15 in 1955. But, should April 15 fall on a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, the filing deadline is extended to the next working day.
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That is the case this year. April 15 fell on a Sunday and today is a legal holiday in some states; therefore tomorrow is tax day. On April 16, Emancipation Day is observed in Washington, D.C. And in Massachusetts, as well as Maine, the third Monday of April is observed as Patriot's Day—this year being the 16th.
Taxes are still used to fund wars and the military. But they also fund other things, like health care, social security, assistance programs, education, science and technology, transportation, agriculture, disaster relief, community development and housing.
Last year, 2011, the IRS collected more than $1.16 quadrillion in gross income from individual tax returns and processed more than 141 million returns.
Just think...one of those returns was mine; and another one was yours.
Sources: Timeanddate.com; Infoplease.com; History of the US Income Tax, Compiled by Ellen Terrell; irs.gov