All Pawtucket All The Time

By Ken McGill, Registrar of Voters

City of Pawtucket

The other night, as I was doing my taxes, it occurred to me how many people don’t know of the history of our income tax and the Internal Revenue Service. On some cable shows I have even seen people protesting the IRS and declaring that income taxes are illegal and that the government has no right collecting them. Now I don’t know what they bases their facts on so I thought I’d do a little research and see how our modern day income tax system came about.

It all began back in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln was in need of some cash to pay expenses for the Civil War. How am I not surprised that the income tax started because of a war. Anyway, President Lincoln created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and it was his job to procure taxes to fund all aspects of the war. In 1872, with the war over and the states once again united, the tax was repealed until 1894 when Congress once again tried to revive the income tax. In 1895 the United States Supreme Court ruled income taxes unconstitutional. Maybe that’s where our modern day protestors to the tax get their ammunition.

In 1913, with Wyoming’s vote, the 16^th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was passed that gave Congress authority to enact an income tax. That same year the very first 1040 form was produced and a 1% tax on the net personal income above $3,000 and 6% surtax on incomes of more than $500,000 was born.

In the 1950’s the IRS was reorganize to replace a patronage system with qualified, competent, professional workers. We all know how those patronage jobs work out. To this day only the commissioner and chief counsel are selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate. You could say that this was the beginning of the modern day IRS.

Today’s IRS was restructured under the 1998 Act called “The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act”. This act allowed the IRS to change its ways to better resemble the private sector model of organizing around customers with similar needs. As complexed as income taxes can be, with all the charts and paperwork, you can call the IRS and someone will be happy to assist you. In addition, the IRS has several brochures explaining your taxes and how to fill out the form. If you’re not sure how to file your taxes I would recommend that you seek professional help. There are many organizations, including our own Leon Mathieu Senior Center, which will help seniors and low income idividuals. Other professional services will charge you a flat fee to fill out your taxes.

Let’s face it;  no one likes to pay taxes. Remember Benjamin Franklin’s quote – “In this world there is nothing certain but death and taxes”. How true Mr. Franklin was but taxes are necessary to run the government, protect our shores, and help our seniors and much, much more. Now if you want to get into a debate about how much we should be paying in taxes – we’ll I’ll leave that for another day.

The resident of the city of Pawtucket are no different from the rest of our country when it comes to paying our fair share of taxes. That is why income taxes will always be part of – Pawtucket – Your Hometown.

-           Until next week and remember, “Answer the Census – We’re Counting on You!”