On the home front, my son Chris is currently on his senior trip with his high school class, spending five days up in Boston touring historical sites and making some memories with his friends before graduation. It's one of those milestone moments that sneaks up on you fast. Hard to believe he's almost done.
We finally got internet out to the "basement," which in our case is a detached garage with a rug, a couple of couches, and a TV. The kids are thrilled. Sometimes that's all it takes.
Easter was a full house this year. With 13 grandkids in Sarasota, Grandpa and Yaya's place turned into quite a party, and the best part was watching the kids, many of them teenagers now, out playing pickleball and volleyball and just genuinely enjoying each other's company. No one had to be told to have fun. This is exactly why we made the move to Sarasota in the first place, to get our kids close to their cousins, and moments like that remind me it was absolutely the right call.
The American Revolution was not really about tax rates. Colonists were paying roughly 1 to 2% of their income in taxes, far less than the British. The fight was about who got to decide.
For the first 85 years of the country's history, the federal government ran almost entirely on tariffs. There was no income tax at all. The government taxed what came in at the ports and left individuals alone.
Western Pennsylvania farmers used whiskey as currency in the 1790s because actual money was scarce. When Hamilton taxed it, they didn't see a luxury tax. They saw a tax on their savings account. That's what started the rebellion.
The first federal income tax was created in 1861 to fund the Civil War. It was 3% on incomes over $800. Congress promised it was temporary. It was repealed in 1872.
From 1868 to 1913, roughly 90% of all federal revenue came from taxes on liquor, beer, wine, and tobacco. The government was essentially funded by drinking.
Congress tried again in 1894 with a 2% income tax on the wealthy. The Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional. It took a constitutional amendment, ratified in 1913, to make the income tax permanent.
When the income tax was launched in 1913, the rate was 1% on incomes above $3,000, with a top rate of 7% on incomes above $500,000. The whole thing fit on a four-page form with one page of instructions.
Before World War II, only about 1% of Americans earned enough to owe federal income tax. It was genuinely a tax on the rich. The war changed that permanently.
Payroll withholding was invented in 1943 so the government could fund the war without waiting for annual lump-sum payments. Congress kept it after the war ended. Nobody asked.
By 1944, the top rate had climbed to 94%. Roosevelt had actually proposed 100%, arguing no American should net more than $25,000 a year during wartime. Congress said no, but only barely.
Happy Tax Day! I hope you don't end up standing in line at the post office at midnight on April 15th.
Be Blessed,
Dave