U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for February 3

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FEDERAL INCOME TAX

Profile America — Tuesday, February 3rd. It may be hard to credit, but there used to be a time when the public sphere wasn't filled with squabbling about income tax rates. The familiar noise began 102 years ago today, when the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, authorizing Congress to levy taxes on income. In its first two years, the tax was modest, affecting only a very few citizens and provided only a small part of the government's total revenue. But the need to fund our involvement in World War I moved income taxes to the center of federal finances. In 2014, individuals paid around $1.7 trillion in federal income tax, while state and local income taxes amounted to $270 billion in just the third quarter alone last year. You can find current data on the country's economy by downloading the 'America's Economy' mobile application at www.census.gov/mobile.

Sources:
16^th Amendment:  http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/february.htm 
Federal tax collection: http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/year_revenue_2014USbn_16bs1n#usgs302 
State and local tax collections: http://www2.census.gov/govs/qtax/2014/g14-qtax3.pdf

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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