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Did the War Between the States cause the Internal Revenue Service? In a roundabout way, yes! President Lincoln and the Congress of 1862 created the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue (no ‘Service’ in the name then) and passed laws to collect taxes on income to pay for the war expenses. The first form was only four pages and covered such things a loss from a shipwreck.
Ten short years later, the tax was repealed. It wasn’t until 1913 that Congress had enough votes to pass the 16th Amendment. The form was filled out at the tax office and signed by an officer of the Internal Revenue Bureau (IRB rather than the IRS). And those IRB officers were always men.
How our tax lives have changed. For many our withholding statements come to us via email and we file electronically – never seeing a real person. Refunds of the past could take up to 10 weeks- today some refunds arrive in our accounts or are withdrawn with in 48 hours.
Take some time to ask an older family member what it was like to file in the past. The tax system will be around for some time to come, just think how much has changed in 94 years.
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