Research Papers

Research Papers

Today is:

                                 Federal Income tax

Brief History of IRS
Origin
        The roots of IRS go back to the Civil War
1862 - President Lincoln and Congress created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses.

1872 - Income tax repealed 10 years later.

1894 - Congress revived the income tax, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year
Democratic Party Platforms under the leadership of three-time Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan consistently included an income tax plank. The progressive wing of the Republican Party also supported the concept.

1909 - Progressives in Congress again attached a provision for an income tax to a tariff bill.
        Conservatives, hoping to kill the idea for good, proposed a constitutional amendment enacting such a tax
        They believed an amendment would never received ratification by three-fourths of the states.
        Much to their surprise, the amendment was ratified by one state legislature after another

February 25, 1913 - The 16th amendment took effect.
        The author of the Sixteenth Amendment was Senator Brown from Nebraska

Annual Reporting Deadline
        1913 - March 1st
        1918 - March 15th
        1954 - April 15th

Bureau Name
          1st name - Bureau of Internal Revenue with personnel appointed in a patronage system

        1954 – major overhaul, agency reorganized - Name changed to Internal Revenue Service
                Career, professional employees
                Only the IRS commissioner and chief counsel are selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

1913 – First form - 4 pages long with wording not easy to understand.
        Reporting for 1913 was for income from March 1, when law took affect, to December 31.
        Tax rate was 1% for the first $20,000.

1914 – May – The first case involving the constitutionality of the amendment reached the Supreme Court

1915 – March 16 Hub – It was predicted some 1000 people in Nebraska would be late filing their return and would be subject to a penalty of an extra ½%.

1920 – Jan – Tax forms were mailed out and citizens had to determine themselves if they had enough income to file a return.
        At least $1,000 for a single person, widow or widower
        A married person living apart from the spouse was considered single.
        At least $2,000 for a married man living with his wife
                His income included that of his wife and minor children.
        The 1040A (short form) could be used for income under $5,000.

        In Kearney - A deputy Collector for the Internal Revenue department would spend a week in early March in an office on the 2nd floor of the Post Office to provide assistance at no cost.

                                          On this day

120 Years ago on April 24, 1895 – Boom had ended, economic depression in Kearney and nationwide.

Representatives of the Frank Co. inspected the canal going the entire length by boat. Water used by the cotton mill did not drain much from the canal.

An Omaha man, representing the Buttermilk Chewing Gum company was in Kearney staying at the Brunswick Hotel.

It was time to renew the liquor licenses for another year. The cost of the license was $1,000.
        Saloon keepers asked for a reduction in the fee. They said their businesses had suffered just like all the other businesses in Kearney so they were entitled to the same consideration.
        City Council sent the matter to the license committee.
        They did some checking and found no disorder due to the sale of liquor
        So they agreed to reduce the fee to $850 if all the saloon men agreed.

City Council met - Only 3 saloon men appeared so the council could not do business. Council said if the saloon men do not agree with this fee, there will not be a reduction of the fee.

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Revised: 02/04/2018