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IRS location sign at Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. The IRS originates from the commissioner of internal revenue, a federal office created in 1862 to assess the nation's first income tax to fund the American Civil War. The temporary measure funded over a fifth of the Union's war expenses before being allowed to expire a decade later.
The Commissioner's duties include administering, managing, conducting, directing, and supervising "the execution and application of the internal revenue laws or related statutes and tax conventions to which the United States is a party" and advising the President on the appointment and removal of a Chief Counsel of the IRS.
Congress enacted an income tax in October 1913 as part of the Revenue Act of 1913, levying a 1% tax on net personal incomes above $3,000, with a 6% surtax on incomes above $500,000. By 1918, the top rate of the income tax was increased to 77% (on income over $1,000,000, equivalent of $16,717,815 in 2018 dollars [ 24 ] ).
The IRS created a Taxpayer First Act Office to implement the law's provisions. [16] In January 2021, the IRS published a report to Congress addressing several of the law's provisions, including a new organizational structure.
Government agencies established in 1913 (3 C, 16 P) Government agencies established in 1914 (2 C, 9 P) Government agencies established in 1915 (1 C, 9 P)
Democrats had long seen high tariff rates as equivalent to unfair taxes on consumers, and tariff reduction was President Wilson's first priority upon taking office. [5] He argued that the system of high tariffs "cuts us off from our proper part in the commerce of the world, violates the just principles of taxation, and makes the government a facile instrument in the hands of private interests."
Over the last 20 years, this has meant that the bottom 50% of taxpayers have always paid less than 5% of the total individual federal income taxes paid, (gradually declining from 5% in 2001 to 2.3% in 2020) with the top 50% of taxpayers consistently paying 95% or more of the tax collected, and the top 1% paying 33% in 2001, increasing to 42% by ...
The first Form 1040 was published for use for the tax years 1913, 1914, and 1915. For 1916, Form 1040 was converted to an annual form (i.e., updated each year with the new tax year printed on the form). [3] Initially, the IRS mailed tax booklets (Form 1040, instructions, and most common attachments) to all households.