As a tax expert, Rick Kelo is highly knowledgeable about the history of taxation,
particularly in the United States (which was the primary cause of the American
Revolution of the late 18th century).
Various unpopular tax acts were enacted by the
British during the Colonial era. These included the Stamp Act, which required
all legal documents, wills, permits, and even playing cards in the colonies to
carry a tax stamp. This act was enacted November 1, 1765. Britain eventually
repealed this act due to widespread protest and boycotts. In 1767, Charles
Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, proposed to enact two tax laws.
Parliament passed both of them, and they resulted in taxes on tea, glass,
paper, and paint. The 1764 Sugar Act taxed sugar, coffee, and cloth. And the
Tea Act of 1773 taxed none other than tea itself.
The Tea Act, of course, led to the famous
Boston Tea Party of 1773. It was reprisals for this action – in which many men
dumped several tons of tea into Boston Harbor – that led to the outbreak of the
Revolutionary War in 1775.
The United States, of course, still taxes its
subjects, but American citizens are represented by their congressmen and
senators in the government – with the exception of residents of Washington,
D.C.; they have no government representation, and their license plates read:
“Taxation without Representation” (a rallying cry of the American Revolution,
from colonial subjects weary of paying taxes to a government in which they had
no voice).
In 1861, war broke out between the North and
the South. Congress, needing funds to pay for the war effort, imposed personal
income tax, the first ever in the United States. This income tax, part of the
Revenue act of 1861, was rescinded in 1872. In 1894, the Tariff Act also
enacted a new income tax statute.
In 1913, Congress ratified the 16th
Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment allows Congress to
collect tax on all income, regardless of source. Net personal income above
$3,000 was taxed 1%. Income above $500,000 was subject to a 6% surtax. Income
over $1,000,000 was subject to a 77% tax rate by 1918. During the Great
Depression, all income above $200,000 was taxed at a staggering 94%.
In 1916, Congress passed the federal estate
tax which is still in use today. It taxes the wealth of a donor's estate upon the
transfer of this estate to the inheritor.