Taxes In The United States

Because the U.S. does not have a Parliament, Congress is in charge of levying taxes, not the president. The enumerated powers, which can be exercised by Congress, are powers that are granted by the Constitution. The enumerated powers begin by stating: “To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.” As the U.S. grew and as a requirement all states, they had to have an income so all of their residents could be provided the common good.

A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. The price of foreign goods increases with the tax, and provides revenue for the government, which makes American products more appealing. This is because the foreign goods that were cheaper are now more expensive. However, why was there a need for tariffs in the early 19th century (1800)? The reason is because, American industries were young, Britain flooded the US market with cheap goods after the War of 1812, and foreign goods have been often cheaper. In order to make sure American businesses could prosper, there had to be tariffs on the foreign goods. The tariff of 1816 was the first substantial protective tariff of the American System; supported by Henry Clay, but opposed by John C. Calhoun and Southern cotton growers. The tariff of 1824 increased the rate of the protective tariff and opposition in the South grew. In the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations), there were higher protective tariffs to New England Mills; and Southerners were outraged including Calhoun.

The current tax code for the United States is almost 74,000 pages long. Or to put that into a different light: About 116 copies of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. It is small wonder that a few of the announced candidates for President of the United States, have again begun to kick the tires on the topic of a Flat Tax. But is a flat tax actually a solution to our country’s growing tax complexity? What are the potential economic effects of a flat tax (both positive and negative)? Finally, is a flat tax even a viable solution? In short, will it work? As a concept, a flat tax is spectacular. Simplicity at its finest. As a fiscal policy, I believe that same simplicity must be examined and inspected closely.

Taxes were passed by Parliament following the French and Indian War. To protect its colonies, the British were forced to fight against the French and the Native

In July 1861, the Congress passed a 3% tax on all personal net income above $600 a year that is equitant to about $10,000 today. However, no revenue was ever raised because a second tax passed before the first was due on June 30, 1862. The war 's demand on resources made the earlier tax ineffective, and

• “The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.” Articles of Confederation, Section VIII • Without a way to collect taxes , congress could not pay war debts or make a national budget. • “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.” United States Constitution, Article I, Section VIII, Clause I • After levying taxes became a federal power

In 1861, Lincoln levied the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. Needing cash with which to fund the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the Congress agreed to impose a 3 percent tax on annual incomes over $800.00. The wording of the Revenue Act was broadly written to define income as a monetary gain derived from any kind of property, or from any specialized trade, employment, or vocation carried on in the United States or elsewhere or from any source whatever. (A&E Television Networks, 2014)

The origin of the income tax on individuals is generally mentioned as the passage of the 16th amendment, which was passed by congress on July 2,1909. The history of individual income tax in the U.S.A goes back to 1861. During the civil war, congress passed the revenue act of 1861, which included taxing on personal incomes to help pay the expenses of the war. This tax was repealed after the war. In 1894, congress made a flat rate federal income tax, but the U.S Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. During the following

Under I.R.C. Section 7701(b), an individual is considered a US resident for tax purposes if they are physically present in the US on at least 1) 31 days during the current year, and 2) 183 days during the three year period that includes the two years immediately before that, counting, all days of current year, 1/3 of days in first year before the current year, and 1/6 of days in the second year before the current year (Substantial Presence Test, 2013). Because Mr. Murray was physically in the US from June through December 2012, 210 days, he is considered a US resident under the substantial presence test for income tax purposes for the year 2012. All his income of $65,000 would be reported on Form 1040 and be taxed as if he was a United States resident.

Tax reforms started in 1916 when the Wilson administration decided to cooperate with a group of insurgent democrats on war time financing, which was majorly progressive taxation. This was important because it led to attacking the wealthy, special privilege, and public corruption. The administration embraced this taxation as “means to achieve social justice.” Another major element to Wilsons administration was redistributional taxation. This helped drive between socialism and unmediated capitalism. The major debate at the time was over the question, “ What stake does society have in corporate profits?” The debates outcome created “soak-the-rich” income taxation. Wilson signed the Revenue Act of 1916. This was the first tax on personal incomes.

Taxes came “…From a logical British attempt to make the colonies contribute more to the cost of their own defense.” (Holmes) Britain was heavily burdened by taxes themselves. They had just ended the Seven Years War, they were in great debt. With the king getting nowhere, Britain set their first direct tax. The Stamp Act of 1765. However, as this proved to be a wildly rejected tax, it was repealed. (readcoat.me.uk) Britain tried and failed several times to try to appease the colonies. Their lenience possibly was one of the reasons the Americans started to revolt in the first place.

Shortly after the French and Indian war, the American colonies began to revolt against Great Britain. Out of the many reasons, taxes were one of the big ones. The colonist was being unfairly taxed for the war debt that the British owed. Taxes were first placed on items such as raw sugar and molasses; this became known as the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act came in shortly afterwards. This act placed direct tax on colonist. Seen

In the United States, property taxes originated during colonial times. State and local governments in fourteen of the fifteen states taxed land by 1796. Only four imposed taxes on inventory. Delaware did not tax property, but more so the income from it. With few

Taxes are the dollars that we pay to government to supply the services that are not or can not be provided through the free enterprise system. Taxes have been around since the beginning of organized societies. They come in various forms. Most common are income taxes both federal and local government. These taxes are assessed on the amount of income a person earns. Other taxes come in the form of user taxes; these taxes are imposed on the people that are using the goods being taxed, such as gas tax, alcohol tax, sales tax, and luxury taxes. Property taxes make up the major revenues for local and city governments. Furthering the burden of taxation are taxes that are attached to such bills as utility

Tax system is a legal system of imposing and collecting taxes from the citizens of the country. As it has been stated by Albert Einstein, the hardest task in the world is to understand the tax system of a country. The United States’ tax system is so complicated that its tax code contains almost 3 million words and 6,000 pages. Moreover, the taxes implied by city and state governments add more complexity to the federal taxation system. In this case, we do not need to understand the complexity of tax code system in order to get acquainted with the significant role of taxes in American society.