IRS is Hundred Years Old
INCIDENTALLY, yesterday, the American Income Tax celebrated its centenary. (of course the Government was closed and there was really no celebration). Income Tax was actually introduced sometime in the 1790s by Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson called it as an assault on liberty, and when elected in 1800 he abolished it. He said that taxes covered our land with officers and opened our doors to their intrusions. In 1862 Abraham Lincoln enacted an income tax to pay war expenses. This was repealed after 10 years. Another income tax was imposed in 1894, but it was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
The modern Income Tax legislation was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago, October 03, 1913.
The Indian Tax system is supposed to be much older - Manu said of taxes, "As the calf and the bee take their food little by little, even so must the king draw from his realm moderate, annual taxes.” In Raghuvansa, Kalidas said of king Dileepa, "It was only for the good of his subjects that he collected taxes from them, just as the Sun draws moisture from the Earth to give it back a thousand fold”. Arthasastra is perhaps the oldest treatise on taxation. The Vijayanagar King Krishnadevaraya had a system of progressive taxation.
Modern Income Tax came to India in 1860. The First Modern comprehensive Act was the Income Tax Act 1886. The most comprehensive Income Tax law was brought about through the Income Tax Act of 1922.