Logan Spaw Why Do We Get Taxed

The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people in the U.S. pay a total of over 40 percent of all federal income taxes, which is more than the entire bottom 95 percent of all tax payers. Government programs are funded through Social Insurance Taxes that are the fastest growing source of federal income though it’s actually counted separately in special trust funds by the Treasury. Both federal and state governments combine these taxes that are used to pay for social programs such as social security, Medicare, and unemployment services. This type of taxation is a regressive tax, since lower income people end up paying more from their income than those with a higher income. Another federal tax is the excise tax, better considered a luxury tax for non-necessities, which include things like liquor, cigarettes, gas, and highways. Taxes that are imposed on imported goods so that there’s less foreign competition on the domestic market are called customs duties.

In 1861, Lincoln levied the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. Needing cash with which to fund the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the Congress agreed to impose a 3 percent tax on annual incomes over $800.00. The wording of the Revenue Act was broadly written to define income as a monetary gain derived from any kind of property, or from any professional trade, employment, or vocation carried on in the United States or elsewhere or from any source whatever. (A&E Television Networks, 2014)

In the United States, property taxes originated during colonial times. State and local governments in fourteen of the fifteen states taxed land by 1796. Only four imposed taxes on inventory. Delaware did not tax property, but more so the income from it. With few

There are many different types of taxes out there that everyone has to pay at some point in their life. There is a tax on Income, for instance, capital gains taxes, estate taxes, and inheritance taxes. Next is property tax, the taxes you pay towards your real estate. Lastly taxes on goods and services, excise taxes and user fees. These are all important required taxes to live in the United States but what is each tax in-depth? An overview

Property taxes are very important to states and local governments. Citizens of all fifty states are subject to some kind of property tax, because governments need money in order to establish services and things like roads. Property taxes typically may be imposed on personal property or real estate. Property taxes are important, but they are not the main source of revenue for most states. According to the Tax Policy Center (TPC), state governments levy property taxes in thirty-six states, but “local governments depend much more on property tax revenue” (TPC). Many local governments in the United States impose property taxes as a source of revenue. For example, in 2013 local governments collected $442 billion from property taxes which was 47% of “general revenue,” according to the Tax Policy Center (TPC).

Taxes have been around throughout the world since the idea of civilization came to being and was implemented. The earliest forms of taxations were implemented around 4500 years ago in Mesopotamia where people used to pay taxes by use of the commonly accepted currency then which was livestock. These kinds of taxes were paid throughout the year to finance the activities of the governing sectors. Looking at the ancient world, there are taxes such as the estate taxes and the death taxes. An example of a country that had death taxes was Egypt which upon the death of an individual the people left behind who would get the property the deceased had were to pay a ten per cent tax on the property they were to inherit. Over the years, the way we pay taxes

In the early years of our nation, the federal government levied very few taxes. They got by with just the taxes from alcohol, carriages, and some basic household goods like sugar and tobacco. Sales taxes were placed on various luxury items when we went to war against Great Britain in 1812 to cover the costs. In 1817, with Great Britain defeated, Congress did away with all internal taxes and used tariffs on exports to fund the government. In 1861, to raise funds for the Civil War, Congress passed a bill assessing a 3% income tax. Evidently misery loves company and the Confederate states decided to follow suit and enact their own version as well. By the time the war was over, in 1872, the populace had begun to show their displeasure with an income tax and the political class eliminated it yet again. Then came the panic of 1893 and the income tax returned. As it turned out, this 2% tax on incomes over $4000 (that President Grover Cleveland called unconstitutional) started a chain of events that would eventually culminate in a constitutional amendment and our current tax system.

The taxes are so much these days that the government are getting money for nothing. The government take about 12% of the house payment. That means if you want to sell your house it must be expensive and that is a problem for many people. There are many houses that are in millions and billions. There are people buying them and selling them The taxes of these billions of dollars goes to the government because you are taking their space. New york city's government gets about 50 billion dollars a year. These days taxes are affecting people because the people can't buy anything. If you want to go buy a car you must pay the taxes. Almost everything is with taxes. The people get affected by taxes because they must think about the taxes before buying

The history of the United States tax system is something that each and every person should understand. There are two main reasons that the history of the tax system is important. The first reason is that the knowledge of the how the tax system worked will help the people who are a part of the tax system process to make educated decisions upon future taxes and things which would affect the taxes. The second reason is that knowing about the history of the United States tax system will help the people making tax decision to avoid crucial mistakes that have occurred in the past. Not only will the decision makers be able to learn from previous mistakes, but they will also be able to know what a likely

Taxes have been around almost since the beginning of time. Some of the earliest know taxes go back to ancient Egypt. Being a barter system, taxation of agricultural products involved the seizing of a portion of the crops or products produced. This form of taxation was known as a tithe. Not everybody 's means of livelihood could be taxed as easily as the farmers. When this occurred, corvée was the form of taxation used. Corvée was forced labor provided to the state by peasants too poor to pay other forms of taxation. Early taxation was simple you paid a tithe, which literally means ten-percent, to the government and if you did not they came and took it. If they needed more, they came and took it.

Taxation is said to be the means by which the government finance their expenditure by imposing charges on individual citizens and corporate entities. Tax is a compulsory monetary contribution to the state’s revenue that is assessed and imposed by government on the activities, enjoyment, expenditure, income, occupation, property of individuals and corporate entities. It can also be the financial charge or other levy which is imposed onto a taxpayer by the state or the functional equivalent of the state in that failure to pay, or evasion of or resistance to collection, is punishable by law. Basically there are two types of taxes, which are the direct taxes and indirect taxes. Direct taxes are levied on the income, profits, or other gains and are deducted at source and paid directly to the tax authorities. These include corporate tax, property

Tax can be defined as a financial levy or other levy that is imposed upon taxpayers who cane be a single person or a legal entity. The government or an organ that has a similar function equivalent of a government imposes these levies for purposes of carrying out different government expenditures. There are different ways of taxing that different governments employ to impose taxes to its citizens and the administration always have different ways of punishing those who evade taxes or resist being taxed. In Australia, the way in which residents are taxed is very different with how non-residents are taxed with the non-residents having to pay an amount higher than the residents. The country’s tax office also has different ways of imposing tax to personal property as well as how they define assessable income.

Taxation can be defined as a form of government Levy placed on goods on services that contributes to the state revenue. There are 2 main forms of taxation, direct tax [income tax, CGT tax] and indirect tax [VAT and taxes placed on cigarettes and alcohol].

The term 'tax' has been derived from the French word taxe and etymologically, the Latin word taxare is related to the term 'tax', which means 'to charge'. Tax is an obligatory payment in the part of the citizen without the expectation of any direct benefit. Taxation is the obligation of non-penal, yet compulsory transfer of resources from the private to the public sector levied on a basis of predetermined criteria and without reference to specific benefit received. It is one of the major sources of public revenue.

A tax policies represent key resource allocator between the public and private sectors in a country. It is usually imposed on individuals and entity that make up a country. The funds provided by tax are used by the states to support certain state obligations such as education systems, health care systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. A nation’s tax system is often a reflection of its communal values or the values of those in power. To create a system of taxation, a nation must make choices regarding the distribution of the tax burden-who will pay taxes and how much they will pay-and how the taxes collected will be spent.