Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln imposes first federal income tax. On August 5, 1861, President Lincoln imposes the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. Strapped for cash with which to pursue the Civil War, Lincoln and Congress agreed to impose a 3 percent tax on annual incomes over $800.

When did the US start charging federal income tax?

1913
While the Civil War led to the creation of the first income tax in the U.S., the federal income tax as we know it was officially enacted in 1913. Many of the taxes we pay today were created in the 1920s and 1930s including the estate tax, gift tax, and Social Security taxes.

Who was president when the federal income tax was created?

On October 3, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson made the federal income tax a large part of American life by signing the Revenue Act of 1913 into law.

When was the income tax passed?

The origin of the income tax on individuals is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913; however, its history actually goes back even further. During the Civil War Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 which included a tax on personal incomes to help pay war expenses.

What was the purpose of the first income tax?

National Museum of American History. The first Federal income tax was levied to help pay for the Union war effort. In the summer of 1861, Salmon P. Chase reported to the Congress that he would need $320 million over the next fiscal year to finance the war.

What was the percentage of federal income tax in 1913?

By contrast, the income tax accounted for 45 percent of federal revenues in 1950 and nearly 73 percent in 1985. The 1913 version of the income tax did not even merit its own act; rather, it was adopted as part of the Underwood/Simmons Tariff Act of 1913.