Published March 1967 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd 105 Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. 20510 Vol. VII -- Number 12 March 24, 1967 Byrd's Eye View A Public Service Column by Senator Robert C. Byrd AMERICA'S MARVELOUS TAX HERITAGE The United States, long labeled the melting pot of nationalities, has acquired customs from many countries of the world. It has also adopted divers social forms and governmental practices from older nations. English law, as a sterling example, is the basis for our American system of jurisprudence. Few people, however, are aware that our Republic “inherited” the system of levying income tax from the Italians. It was first imposed as a means of collecting revenue in medieval Italian cities. However, the practice of taxing personal income apparently did not win hearts even in olden Italy, for it seems to have lapsed for some decades, sporadically being used by an occasional principality to enrich its coffers. Thus the first generally important income tax was levied by the English as a war revenue measure during the 1798-1846 period, after their expensive troubles with their rebellious American Colonies. Independence for the fledgling United States of American cost the British heavily. Thus, despite continued expressions of distaste by the English wage earner, the British government imposed a permanent income tax on its populace in 1874, and today has an extremely heavy one, as any unhappy British taxpayer will testify. It was also during the latter days of the 19th Century that other European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, adopted income taxation measures, so that it has become the preferred modern form of taxation. In the U. S., the first income tax was imposed by the Federal government in 1864, to help pay for the Civil War. However, it was not a popular measure and was shortly-thereafter discontinued. Re-imposed in 1394, the income tax law was declared unconstitutional on the ground that it was a direct tax not apportioned according to representative population. With the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, it has become a lawful element in the Federal tax structure, and despite gloomy April filing dates, it is doubtlessly here to stay, with the percentage of taxation remaining an important topic of discussion in almost every American home and business house. The U. S. income tax is a highly effective, albeit often highly lamented, means of taxation, yielding as much as 59 percent of all U. S. governmental receipts in some years. As American citizens file their general income tax returns for 1966, they can take consolation, in “paying up” to Uncle Sam, from the thought that, based on personal income reports thus far for 1967 (shown for the month of February as climbing toward an annual rate of $610 billion), they will have money rolling in from ~ still prosperous economy to replace any cash with which they may somewhat reluctantly part in completing current income tax payments. -30-