Online Encyclopedia
U.S. Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the tax laws. It is a part of the Department of the Treasury.
For its first 138 years (1776-1913), the United States did not have a standing federal income tax. Most government revenue was collected from excise taxes on products, import/export taxes, and revenue tax es on items such as photographs, bank checks, stock certificates, wills, deeds, and other legal documents. Several short-term income taxes were levied in the late 19th Century, some of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In 1913 the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution removed restrictions on income tax revenue, clearing the way for the income tax to become a permanent institution. The agency created to enforce these taxes was named the internal revenue service in contrast to U.S. government institutions that collected external revenue through duties and tariffs.
See also: Taxation in the United States
Further reading
- Davis, Shelley L., and Mary Matalin. Unbridled Power: Inside the Secret Culture of the IRS. New York: Harper Collins, (ISBN 0887308295)
- Johnston, David Cay. Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else. New York: Portfolio, 2003. (ISBN 1591840198)
- Roth, William V., Jr., and William H. Nixon. The Power to Destroy. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999. (ISBN 0871137488)
External links
- Internal Revenue Service Official website
- 31 Q&A about the IRS and ‘This is what your fear is protecting’ dispute the IRS's legitimacy
- Tax Protester FAQ by Dan Evans rebuts claims of the illegitimacy of the income tax and the IRS
- "The Tax Man" -- on Joe Banister , formerly IRS, who found the "kooks" so difficult to beat he joined them
- Americans for Fair Tax deals with the elimination of the IRS, in favor for a new "fair" system.