How did the Federal Government operate prior to 1913? There was no Federal Income Tax before 1913, so how did the Government get funded? There was a brief attempt to levy a tax in the...

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

There was no Federal Income Tax before 1913, so how did the Government get funded? There was a brief attempt to levy a tax in the mid-1800s but it was pretty quickly repealed.

pendennis

Government funding came generally from tariffs, excise taxes, and customs duty fees. There weren't the demands for government services like there is today. There was no centralized welfare funding, Social Security, etc. Most welfare funding was done at the local and state levels, and by charitable organizations such as churches, etc.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Bridges wrote:

There was no Federal Income Tax before 1913, so how did the Government get funded? There was a brief attempt to levy a tax in the mid-1800s but it was pretty quickly repealed.

A major source of revenue was the whiskey tax. When prohibition began there was no whiskey to tax and that loss of revenue led to the creation of the income tax.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Mac wrote:

A major source of revenue was the whiskey tax. When prohibition began there was no whiskey to tax and that loss of revenue led to the creation of the income tax.

Yeah, but income tax started in 1913, prohibition started in 1920. This is the permanent income tax. There were previous temporary income taxes, notably one to fund the Civil War.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

For anybody who may be interested there is a very good book, “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” by Daniel Okrent. It doesn’t have anything to do with gangsterism, but details what led up to Prohibition and how people got around the law during prohibition. It’s an interesting read, especially if you enjoy history.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Timmers wrote:

Check your history my friend, for an amendment to the US Consultation can be enacted it must be ratified by a simple majority of the existing sates. It failed to be ratified by the states, twice.

And so, off we go to the attic.

Don't drag your ignorant political argument into our photography forum, please.

Actually for an amendment to the Constitution to be ratified 3/4 of the states need to approve it.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

SteveR wrote:

Yeah, but income tax started in 1913, prohibition started in 1920. This is the permanent income tax. There were previous temporary income taxes, notably one to fund the Civil War.

You are correct there was a federal income tax to fund the Civil War which was subsequently renewed by congress. Congress allowed that tax to expire in 1873. The amendment to the Constitution that created the modern income tax was ratified in 1913. There were numerous lawsuits over what counted as income. These were settled by the Supreme Court in 1920.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Timmers wrote:

...Don't drag your ignorant political argument into our photography forum, please.

Huh? Argument? This topic was created by user Bridges in General Chit Chat (not photography). I supplied a direct quote from a website, which I linked. A simple factual statement of history, which answered the OP's question.

Like this one better? From the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library:

"The most significant long-term impact of the Sixteenth Amendment was the shift in the way the federal government received funding for its works. What was originally conceived as a system that depended largely on tariffs at a level just slightly above the many states, transformed into a more powerful, centralized institution that sourced vast quantities of funding through the many incomes of individuals and the states."

Click here for source

.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Timmers wrote:

Check your history my friend, for an amendment to the US Consultation can be enacted it must be ratified by a simple majority of the existing sates. It failed to be ratified by the states, twice.

And so, off we go to the attic.

Don't drag your ignorant political argument into our photography forum, please.

Read your Constitution about ratification of amendments by states. Don't forget, too, that this is Chit-Chat which has nothing to do, usually, with photography. It's a place for member to come and discuss other things.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Mac wrote:

Actually for an amendment to the Constitution to be ratified 3/4 of the states need to approve it.

Also, "The U.S. Constitution contains no time limit for ratification of constitutional amendments. From 1909 to 1913, the new amendment was ratified by the required thirty-six states out of the then forty-eight."

I'm not sure what this comment, "failed to be ratified, twice" is about, or how it pertains to the topic.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Linda From Maine wrote:

Also, "The U.S. Constitution contains no time limit for ratification of constitutional amendments. From 1909 to 1913, the new amendment was ratified by the required thirty-six states out of the then forty-eight."

I'm not sure what this comment, "failed to be ratified, twice" is about, or how it pertains to the topic.

The Supreme Court has ruled that an amendment must be passed within a "suitably contemporaneous time," but indicated that Congress should indicate what that time frame should be. In the case of the ERA, Congress had set one deadline but then extended it before it ultimately failed.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/equal-rights-amendment-96-years-old-and-still-not-part-constitution-heres-why-180973548/#:~:text=Even%20rewritten%2C%20writes%20Harvard%20political%20scientist%20Jane%20Mansbridge,that%20E.R.A.%20advocates%20knew%20would%20nullify%20its%20impact.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

SteveR wrote:

The Supreme Court has ruled that an amendment must... (show quote)

We are getting quite the civics lesson in a topic that asked a specific question that could have been easily answered with a Google search

There is code you can use to embed long links, like I did in my two earlier responses, if you're interested. Once you've done it a few times, it's pretty easy to remember.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Linda From Maine wrote:

We are getting quite the civics lesson in a topic that asked a specific question that could have been easily answered with a Google search

There is code you can use to embed long links, like I did in my two earlier responses, if you're interested. Once you've done it a few times, it's pretty easy to remember.

True. And yet it brought out so much errant information. Guess nobody Googles before posting.

What code?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Linda From Maine wrote:

There is code you can use to embed long links, like I did in my two earlier responses, if you're interested. Once you've done it a few times, it's pretty easy to remember.

I would like to know how to do that.

Wyantry Loc: SW Colorado

Linda From Maine wrote:

There is code you can use to embed long links, like I did in my two earlier responses, if you're interested. Once you've done it a few times, it's pretty easy to remember.

I think many would like to know about the ‘long-link’ posting code!

What is this ‘secret’ code procedure?

Please?