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Legislative Intent Service, Inc. News & Notes

Some bill research does not include the Governor's file because at the time we researched the bill, the sitting Governor had not released his chaptered bill file. If the Governor's file is not included with this particular research, please contact our office (1-530-666-1917 or quote@legintent.com) and we will be happy to provide this file at no charge if it is available. Please Note: Governor files did not exist prior to 1943.

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LIS NEWS AND NOTES

Tax Day!  Today, April 15th, aka “Tax Day,” marks 152 years of income taxes assessed by the federal government.  Prior to 1861, during colonial times in the U.S., most of the federal government’s tax revenues were derived from excise taxes, tariffs, and customs duties.  Without a nationwide tax system, the federal government instead relied on donations from the states for its revenues.  Each state, under the 1781 Articles of Confederation, was a sovereign entity and could levy taxes as it chose.  By 1789, the Constitution gave Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the U.S., while leaving the actual collection of taxes to the individual states.  This allowed Congress to pay the debts of the Revolutionary War.  When the War of 1812 broke out, Congress imposed additional excise taxes, raised customs duties, and issued Treasury notes.  From 1817, after Congress repealed these 1812 taxes, to 1861, the federal government did not collect any internal revenue, receiving most of its revenue from customs duties and sale of public lands.

The federal income tax can be traced to the Civil War when the Revenue Act of 1861 was enacted to help fund the war.  Chapter XLV of 1861, signed on August 5, 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln, was an “Act to provide increased Revenue from Imports, to pay Interest on the Public Debt, and for other Purposes.”  This 1861 tax law included an import tariff (10% to 50% on goods such as sugar, tea, gunpowder, wine, fruits and herbs), property tax (levies on real estate based on state’s population), and income tax (3% on individuals earning over $800 per year). 

The income tax provisions of the 1861 bill were affected the following year by the Revenue Act of 1862, which enacted “An Act to provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay Interest on the Public Debt.”  The 1862 Act created the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to collect taxes, the levying of excise taxes on every day goods and services, and an adjustment to the income tax created under the 1861 Act. 

In 1864, with the Civil War still another year away from ending, President Lincoln signed into law “An Act to provide Internal Revenue to support the Government, to pay Interest on the Public Debt, and for other Purposes.”  The Internal Revenue Act increased the income tax rates set forth by the 1862 Act. 

 The rest, to paraphrase, is all “researchable” history. . . .

 

Newsletter:  LIS’ quarterly newsletter, Engrossment , is available at our website here .  The subject matter of this latest issue is the Industrial Welfare Commission [“IWC”].  During our years of researching legislative history, we have acquired a large collection of IWC related documents dating from the early 1900’s through today.  Engrossment provides a brief history of the IWC, post-WW II Wage Orders, and more current Wage Orders recently adopted.  Contact us if you have any questions regarding IWC research. 

 

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