The Interesting History of Income Tax William J. Federer The only things certain are death and taxes - Benjamin Franklin Yet few know America’s interesting history of Income Tax, such as: *1787 - U.S. Constitution prohibited a direct Federal tax *1862 - Revenue Tax on incomes went into effect to finance the Union during the Civil War *1895 - Supreme Court made Income Tax unconstitutional *Woodrow Wilson thought tariffs on imports caused wars, so he worked to replace them with an Income Tax. *1913 - Income Tax was only a 1% tax on the top 1% richest people in America. *1943 - Paycheck Withholding began as an emergency effort to get funds to finance WWII. John F. Kennedy - Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased flow of revenues to the Federal Government. (Annual Budget Message, Jan. 17, 1963) Thomas Jefferson - It is an encouragement to proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation (2nd Annual Message, 1802) (176 pages, includes pictures)