From the course: Accounting Foundations
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The history of income taxes
From the course: Accounting Foundations
The history of income taxes
- [Instructor] You may have heard the Benjamin Franklin saying, "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, "except death and taxes." - Yeah, taxes have been with us since civilization began. In order to perform essential services, governments need money. That money has most frequently come in the form of taxes. - [Instructor] Taxes have been a part of human society for thousands of years. For example, in ancient Egypt peasants too poor to pay their taxes were required to provide forced labor on public projects such as the pyramids. - And unpopular income tax was launched by Chinese Emperor Wang Mang in the year 9 A.D. The tax rate was 10% of profits. The emperor deposed 14 years later. - The first income taxes weren't collected in the United States until the American Civil War in the 1860s. Income taxes were not a permanent part of the US Federal government financing until 1913. - Yes and those first US income tax rates in 1913 ranged from 1% to just 7%. - Now, if you think…
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