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Show t THE BIRTHDAY NO ONE CELEBRATES Next Monday is a birthday for ' which nobody will bake a cake. On Feb. 25, 45 years ago, the Federal Government, was authorized auth-orized the power to levy an income in-come tax on individuals. It was felt at the time that rates would never reach 10. The first year of the tax, Ic-tal Ic-tal corporate and individual income in-come levies brought the government govern-ment $80 million. Dividing, this by the population of 1913 shows that the per capita tax bite was 82 cents. By contrast, in 1957 two . world wars and a police action later the income tax (individ-' ual and corporate) brought the Federal Government 63.3 billion. bil-lion. This is a per capita tax bite of $390. Per capita annual income in 1913 was $358; today it is about $1650. In this 45-year period, per capita income increased Wi times while the per capita tax increased 474 times. Other comparisons of then and now are of equal interest. For instance, in 1913 the single sin-gle personal exemption was $3000, compared to $600 today. In 1913 a single man with a $5000 a year income paid $20 tax; today he pays $818. Rates the first year were 1 to 6 . Today they range from 20 to 91. Mr. Taxpayer's total bill in 1913 was distributed 70.5 for state and local government and 29.5 for the Federal Government. Govern-ment. Today the Federal Government Gov-ernment takes 72.3, leaving 27.7 for state and local units. In 1913, people did locally what they wanted done. Today, To-day, they give their money to the Federal Government and fight among themselves to sej who can get the most back. |
