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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Street who wrote (4404)	11/2/2000 12:12:14 PM
From: The Street	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13056

*** Tid Bits US military spending during the American Civil War increased nearly forty times its previous level, amounting to 93% of the federal budget. To cope with the demand, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 (on August 5, 1861), which doubled customs taxes, reinstated excise taxes, and taxed personal incomes for the first time. Citizens paid a flat 1.5% rate on income, but had no deductions. The penalty rate for not paying income tax was 50%, a staggering sum. Although many, including the secretary of the Treasury, desired longer retention of the Civil War income taxes, the taxes were widely viewed as emergency measures and were repealed in 1872. This was a time when even the commissioner of Internal Revenue recommended repeal of the income tax, writing to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that he regarded the income tax as ``the one of all others most obnoxious to the genius of our people, being inquisitorial in its nature, and dragging into public view an exposition of the most private pecuniary affairs of the citizen'' (US House 1871). ____________________________________ Voluntary Compliance Former IRS Commissioner Peggy Richardson, in a speech to Lawyers and Accountants (members of the National Association of Enrolled Agents) asserted that she needed their help to achieve greater "voluntary compliance" from taxpayers, because annual collections were dropping. She said that the IRS was NOT collecting at least "$70 billion in additional revenues each year." She further stated that at least 1 out of 5 "taxpayers" were now REFUSING to comply, and that the "tax revolt" is growing. In addition, she claimed that "The compliance level from corporations in the service industries fell from 69 percent to 48 percent between 1980 and 1987." August 26, 1993