August 5 in American History
Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 to help fund the Civil War, taxing incomes over $800 at 3%. It was repealed a decade later and the modern income tax didn't return permanently until the 16th Amendment in 1913 — a reminder that "temporary wartime measure" has a long history of outliving the war.
In 1861: the first federal income tax is enacted. Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 to help fund the Civil War, taxing incomes over $800 at 3%.
Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 to help fund the Civil War, taxing incomes over $800 at 3%. It was repealed a decade later and the modern income tax didn't return permanently until the 16th Amendment in 1913 — a reminder that "temporary wartime measure" has a long history of outliving the war.
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