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In the early 18th century and well into the 19th century, a number of the southern colonies and states adopted an income tax modeled on the tax instituted in England. [citation needed] The British theory was that you tax the income from property, and not the property itself; thus, sales of property were not subject to taxation. [7]
The history of income taxation in the United States began in the 19th century with the imposition of income taxes to fund war efforts. However, the constitutionality of income taxation was widely held in doubt (see Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.) until 1913 with the ratification of the 16th Amendment.
Federal, State, and Local income tax as a percent GDP Federal income, payroll, and tariff tax history Taxes revenue by source chart history US Capital Gains Taxes history In 1913, the top tax rate was 7% on incomes above $500,000 (equivalent to $15.4 million [ 96 ] in 2023 dollars) and a total of $28.3 million was collected.
The states generally taxed residents on all of their income, including income earned in other states, as well as income of nonresidents earned in the state. This led to a long line of Supreme Court cases limiting the ability of states to tax income of nonresidents. The states had also come to rely heavily on retail sales taxes.
In addition to federal income tax collected by the United States, most individual U.S. states collect a state income tax. Some local governments also impose an income tax, often based on state income tax calculations. Forty-one states, the District of Columbia, and many localities in the United States impose an income tax on individuals. Nine ...
The Revenue Act of 1861, formally cited as Act of August 5, 1861, Chap. XLV, 12 Stat. 292, included the first U.S. Federal income tax statute (see Sec. 49).The Act, motivated by the need to fund the Civil War, [1] imposed an income tax to be "levied, collected, and paid, upon the annual income of every person residing in the United States, whether such income is derived from any kind of ...
A new tax act was passed in 1942 as the United States entered the Second World War. This act included a special wartime surcharge. The number of American citizens who paid income tax increased from about four million in 1939 to more than forty-two million by 1945. [23]
The new tax proposed by Congress in the Revenue Act of 1862 was the first progressive income tax placed on United States residents. This tax reflected the taxpayers' "ability to pay" by separating citizens into multiple categories and taxing accordingly: [10] For U.S. residents whose annual incomes were less than $600, no tax was collected.