Timelines of Taxes

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Tax Museum: http://www.tax.org/Museum/1861-1865.htm

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1245        In Germany the Rheinfels castle was built by Count Diether V von Katzenelnbogen to protect the St. Goar tax collectors. It soon developed into one of the mightiest fortresses in the Middle Rhine region. His family was responsible for many of the Rhine castles.
    (http://www.st-goar.de/734-1-geschichte-burg-rheinfels-1.html)(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)

1643        The English parliament first introduced levies on beer and meat to finance its fight against the Crown.
    (Econ, 12/31/11, p.39)

1675        In France taxes imposed by Louis XIV led to an uprising in Brittany. Protesters wore bonnets rouges (red wooly hats).
    (Econ, 11/30/13, p.50)

1689        Sep 1, Russia began taxing men's beards.
    (MC, 9/1/02)

1694        The history of English death duties began with the Stamp Act of this year which placed 5s on probates over 20 pounds.
    (www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Bastable/bastbPF29.html)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.90)

1712        English Tories introduced a stamp tax, which taxed newspapers per sheet. Papers were then published as broadsheets, single sheets with huge pages
    (Econ, 6/12/04, p.18)

1765        Aug 25, In protest over the stamp tax, American colonists sacked and burned the home of Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson.
    (HN, 8/25/98)

1790        Aug. 4, US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton urged that ten boats for the collection of revenue be built. This was to stop smuggling, especially of coffee, which was hampering trade. The Coast Guard was born as the Revenue Cutter Service. The Coast Guard was empowered to board and inspect any vessel in US waters and any US boat anywhere in the world.
    (Smith., 8/95, p.25)(HFA, '96, p.36)(SFC, 5/20/96, p.A-16)(AP, 8/4/00)

1798        Jul 14, 1st direct federal tax in US states took effect on dwellings, land and slaves.
    (MC, 7/14/02)

1809        English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his essay “On the Vulgar Errors Respecting Taxes and Taxation.”
    (Econ, 5/19/12, p.21)

1846        Aug 14, Henry David Thoreau was jailed for tax resistance.
    (MC, 8/14/02)

1848        Jan 26, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) of Massachusetts presented an essay at the Concord Lyceum that explained his motives for refusing to pay taxes. In 1849 it was published as “Resistance to Civil Government.”
    (ON, 10/09, p.12)

1861        Aug 5, The US federal government levied an income tax for the first time to finance the Civil War. It was 3% of incomes over $800 effective from Jan 1. This was superseded by the Tax Act of July 14, 1862, which took effect as of January 1, 1862.
     (AP, 8/5/97)(http://tinyurl.com/brzpcg3)

1862        Sep 1, A federal tax was levied on tobacco, especially that grown in Confederate states.
    (MC, 9/1/02)

1865-1868    Oppressive taxes levied on cotton drained some $70 million from the US southern economy.
    (WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A15)

1868        Jul 20, The 1st use of tax stamps on cigarettes.
    (MC, 7/20/02)

1871        Jan 26, A US income tax, established during the Civil War, was repealed.
    (MC, 1/26/02)(WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

1879        The California constitutional convention called for a state Board of Equalization to standardize the appraisal methods used by independent county assessors in property tax assessment. In 2017 the agency was overhauled following allegations that board members may have misused public funds.
    (SFC, 9/13/00, p.A15)(SFC, 6/21/11, p.D5)(SFC, 6/23/17, p.A1)

1894        Aug 27, The US Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, providing for a graduated income tax. It imposed a 2% tax on incomes over $4000. Pres. Grover Cleveland enacted the tax to cope with the deficit. The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional on May 20, 1895.
    (http://tinyurl.com/ph3srvr)(AP, 8/27/99)(WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

1894        In Britain William Harcourt introduced the estate duty to replace 5 death duties.
    (Econ, 10/27/07, p.90)(www.tax.org.uk/showarticle.pl?id=1566)

1895        May 20, The US income tax was declared unconstitutional.
    (SFEC, 1/25/98, Z1 p.8)

1909        US Federal taxes were imposed on corporate income.
    (http://tinyurl.com/3c45eg)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.61)
1909        Congress proposed the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which proposed an income tax. It was ratified in 1916.
    (WSJ, 6/4/03, p.B1)

1909        In Britain Lloyd George’s People’s Budget raised income taxes and inheritance taxes at the top to fund basic pensions as well as unemployment and health insurance for workers.
    (Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.8)

1911        California began collecting a corporate franchise tax. It was attacked as being unfair. In 1929 it was overhauled to be based on a company’s income and was placed under the newly created Franchise Tax Commission. In 1949 the commission’s named was changed to the Franchise Tax Board.
    (SFC, 6/21/11, p.D5)

1912        Jul 31, Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winning economist (1976), was born. He became the premier spokesman for the monetarist school of economics. He argued that changes in money supply precede changes in the overall economic conditions. He argued that all social welfare programs should be replaced with a negative income tax. He held that there was a natural rate of unemployment that depended on the given economic structure.
    (HN, 7/31/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R20)

1913        Feb 3, The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified. The new income tax laws included an exemption on life insurance to help widows and orphans.
    (AP, 2/3/00)(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A3)

1913        Feb 25, The 16th Amendment to the constitution was adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax. The amendment, proposed by Congress at the urging of pres. Taft, established a corporate tax. Churches and other religious organizations were exempted from federal taxation. Cordell Hull, author of the Revenue Act of 1913, said: “Of course any kind of society or corporation that is not doing business for profit and not acquiring profit would not come within the meaning of the taxing clause.”
    (http://tinyurl.com/yg2j694)(HN, 2/25/98)(WSJ, 3/11/98, p.A20)(AH, 4/07, p.31)

1913        Mar 1, The US Federal income tax filing date took effect. It obliged citizens to file returns regardless of where they lived. The first Form 1040 was four pages with all of the instructions on page 4. The filing date was changed to March 15 in 1918 and again to April 15 in 1955.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Day)(SFC, 10/25/13, p.A12)(Econ, 3/5/15, p.31)

1913        Mar 29, The Reichstag announced a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
    (HN, 3/29/98)

1913        Oct 3, A 1% US federal income tax was signed into law by Pres. Wilson. The law spared interest of any kind, including home-mortgage interest.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_Act_of_1913)(Econ, 2/4/12, p.86)

1913        Oct 13, The 16th amendment to the constitution was ratified and the modern income tax came into being. It lifted the constitutional ban on income taxes. The levy was 1% of GDP and the highest rate was 7%. An exemption on the first $20,000 in dividend income was revoked during WW I.
    (SFC, 11/2/96, p.D1)(CyCEO, 6/3/97, p.1,8)(WSJ, 3/11/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

1914        The Harrison Anti-Narcotics Act was put forth but not signed until 1916. It mandated that transporters, sellers and possessors of narcotics pay a tax and keep records for the Internal Revenue Service of the Treasury Dept. This was the first US restriction by taxation act.
    (SFC, 10/4/97, p.E3)(SSFC, 1/11/15, p.E6)

1916        Pres. Wilson signed the federal estate tax into law. It was a levy on the transfer of large fortunes between generations. In 2006 Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro authored “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” a unique portrait of American politics as viewed through the lens of the death tax repeal saga.
    (WSJ, 7/13/00, p.A1)(Econ, 6/10/06, p.25)

1918        The US government began permitting the full deduction of interest as part of a package to help companies struggling with the effects of the first world war.   
    (Econ, 5/16/15, p.19)(Econ, 2/4/17, p.63)

1920        Jan 8, Massachusetts’ Gov. Calvin Coolidge stated: "There is a limit to the taxing power of the state beyond which increased rates produce decreased revenues."
    (www.calvin-coolidge.org/html/address_to_the_general_court_b.html)

1920        Britain introduced a tax on motor vehicles and the first tax discs appeared a year later. In 2013 the discs were replaced by an electronic system for paying road tax.
    (AP, 12/5/13)

1921        Mar 4, Warren G. Harding was sworn in as America’s 29th President. By the time Pres. Woodrow Wilson left office, the top tax rate was 77%.
    (HN, 3/4/98)(WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

1932        Feb 2, Al Capone was sent to prison at Atlanta, Georgia, for "tax evasion."
    (MC, 2/2/02)

1932        Pres. Hoover pushed through a ferocious tax increase to balance the budget and restore “confidence.”
    (WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

1933        California began a sales tax to pay for public schools. This followed the plummet of property taxes during the Great Depression.
    (SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/21/11, p.D5)

1934        May 10, The US Revenue Act required that anyone filing a federal tax return also complete a pink form with individual tax information that became public information. It was repealed in June, 1935.
    (WSJ, 4/3/06, p.B1)(http://tinyurl.com/pmac7)

1934        Alabama’s last Confederate veteran living at the Mountain Creek Confederate Soldiers' Home died. The hospital, which was converted into apartments for widows, closed in 1939 and the five women who lived there were moved to Montgomery. In 2011 residential property taxes, initiated in 1901, continued to support Confederate Memorial Park.
    (AP, 7/20/11)

1935        Jun, A US law that required a pink tax form of personal tax information under the Revenue Act of 1934 was repealed.
    (WSJ, 4/3/06, p.B1)

1940        Mar 8, In the US it was tax freedom day, the day by which citizens met their financial obligations to the government. In 1902 it was Jan 31 and by 1999 it had shifted to May 10.
    (SFEC, 4/18/99, BR p.7)

1947        In Ireland catering manager Brendan O’Regan set up the first airport duty-free store at Shannon Airport.
    (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)(Econ, 10/1/16, SR p.10)

1948        Aug 4, A 5 day southern filibuster succeeded in maintaining the poll tax.
    (MC, 8/4/02)

1950        John W. Nichols (1914-2008) registered the first oil and gas drilling fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission, creating a new kind of tax shelter.
    (WSJ, 8/9/08, p.A12)
1950        Japan enacted the tax proposals of Carl S. Shoup (d.2000 at 97). Shoup, an economist from Colombia Univ., had been invited to Japan by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1949 to overhaul the tax system. The value-added tax system (VAT) eliminated the need for some 80% of the population to file tax individual tax returns.
    (SFC, 4/1/00, p.A26)(Econ, 8/3/13, p.63)

1954        The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) restriction led to the prohibition against pastors endorsing candidates at the risk of losing their churches’ tax exempt status.
    (SFC, 9/9/08, p.A12)

1954        In the US employer-provided health insurance was made tax-free.
    (Econ, 1/26/13, p.59)

1955        Richard (d.2004) and Henry Bloch formed the H&R Block company in Kansas City, Mo. It grew to become the world’s largest tax preparing firm.
    (SFC, 7/22/04, p.B8)(LSA, Spring/06, p.64)

1957        Mexico began allowing artists to pay taxes with donations of their artwork after muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros faced jail time for not paying taxes.
    (SFC, 7/24/14, p.A4)

1960        Feb 2, The U.S. Senate approved 24th Amendment calling for a ban on the poll tax.
    (HN, 2/2/99)

1960        Allied Capital, a private-equity firm for business development companies (BDCS), went public. Such firms were exempt from corporate taxes as long as the bulk of profits were distributed to shareholders.
    (Econ, 4/24/04, p.78)

1963        Jul, Interest Equalization Tax was a domestic tax measure implemented by US President John F. Kennedy. It was meant to make it less profitable for US investors to invest abroad by taxing the interest on foreign securities.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_Equalization_Tax)

1964        Jan 23, The 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified.
    (AP, 1/23/98)

1964        Feb 26, Lyndon B. Johnson signed a tax bill with $11.5 billion in cuts. It was initially proposed by Pres. Kennedy in Dec, 1962. It slashed the top marginal income tax rate to 70% in 1965 from 91% in 1963.
    (WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A14)(HN, 2/26/98)(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.W15)

1966        The Beatles wrote “Taxman” to protest at Harold Wilson’s exorbitant “supertax” rates.
    (Econ, 1/28/17, p.55)

1969        Dec 30, Pres. Nixon signed the Tax Reform Act of 1969. The US Congress had enacted legislation that created a minimum tax (later known as the Alternative Minimum Tax, AMT) after the IRS revealed that about 155 high-income households had paid no tax in 1966. It was part of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 and became operative in 1970. The AMT was designed to make sure everyone pays some tax.
    (www.worldcat.org/wcpa/top3mset/79655)(www.house.gov/jec/tax/amt.htm)(SFC, 12/14/05, p.A1)

1969        Herbert Stein (1916-1999) told the story of the Kennedy-Johnson tax cut in his book: "The Fiscal Revolution in America."
    (WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Stein)

1969        Henry L. Beach, a retired dry cleaner and one-time member of the Silver Shirts, a Nazi-inspired organization that was established in the US, founded his anti-tax Posse Comitatus movement. The Posse Comitatus received widespread media attention in 1983 when a former member of the group, Gordon Kahl, was involved in a violent standoff with law enforcement officers in North Dakota and Arkansas.
    (SFC, 6/16/96, p.A4)(Wired, 8/96, p.88)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Kahl)

1971        Mar 14, The Rolling Stones left England for France to escape taxes.
    (MC, 3/14/02)

1971        Aug 15, Pres. Nixon suspended conversion of dollars to gold and imposed a 90-day price, wage and rents freeze and 10% import charge. He also cut various taxes and expenditures. This marked the end of the gold standard and fixed exchange rates. The Bretton Woods agreement, that defined the post World War II economic environment, collapsed under the weight of US deficit spending. In the wake of this exchange rates were allowed to float under the watchful eye of central bankers.
    (WUD, 1994, p. 1688)(WSJ, 5/28/96, p. R-44)(WSJ, 8/15/96, p.A12)(AP, 8/15/97)(WSJ, 10/1/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)

1975        The US earned income tax credit (EITC) began as a means of encouraging the poor into the labor force.
    (Econ, 11/10/12, p.24)

1978        Jun 6, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann amendment, a primary ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes. It cut property taxes by 57%. It limited the taxing abilities of local governments and many city services were reduced as a result. Key fiscal responsibilities were shifted from counties to the state. Proposition 13 capped the increase in a home's taxable value at 2 percent a year until it is sold. It also limits a homeowners property tax to 1 percent of market value.
    (AP, 6/6/97)(SFEC, 2/22/98, Z1 p.3)(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)(AP, 7/3/05)

1980        Pakistan made the payment of zakat, 2.5 percent religious tax, to the government mandatory for Sunni Muslims under the military dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, one of a variety of actions he took in an attempt to make the state more religious.
    (AFP, 8/17/12)

1981        Aug 13, In a ceremony at his California ranch, President Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions, also known as the Kemp-Roth tax cuts. Abstinence-only sex education programs were introduced under Pres. Reagan. Sponsors Rep. Jack Kemp and Sen. William Roth, had hoped for more significant tax cuts, but settled on this bill after a great debate in Congress. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981 included a rider known as the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA), sponsored by Republican Senators Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Jeremiah Denton (Alabama). AFLA set aside a small but significant amount of federal money to be used for the promotion of abstinence, as well as religious instruction in sexual matters within the public schools. In the first four years following implementation of the tax reform act annual revenues were reduced by almost 2% of GDP.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Recovery_Tax_Act_of_1981)(AP, 8/13/01)(Econ, 11/19/16, p.66)

1981        French Pres. Mitterand introduced a tax on great wealth (impot sur les grandes fortunes). It was abolished in 1986 under PM Jacques Chirac and reintroduced in 1988 under the name impot de solidarite sur la fortune (ISF) and applied to total assets greater than $850,000.
    (Econ, 7/16/05, p.45)

1982        The US Congress doubled the federal excise tax on cigarettes to 16 cents per pack.
    (WSJ, 1/27/04, p.D12)

1983        The US Reagan administration slapped an extra 45% tariff on imports of motorcycles in response to a petition from Harley-Davidson.
    (Econ, 3/4/17, p.60)

1986        Sep 27, The US Senate joined House of Reps voting for "sweeping tax reforms."
    (MC, 9/27/01)

1986        Oct 22, President Reagan signed into law the US Tax Reform Act, also known as the Tax Reform Act of 1985. It flattened rates, simplified rules and removed countless loopholes. It closed a loophole which had helped wealthy families shield assets by designating inheritance past a generation. The top marginal rate was cut from 50% to 28%. The tax law made it possible to slice up mortgage-backed securities. In the five years following the Tax Reform Act of 1986, 5,400 changes were made in the tax law.
    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Reform_Act_of_1986)(AP, 10/22/06)(Econ, 6/19/04, p.15)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.61)(Econ, 1/8/11, p.84)(Econ, 9/24/11, p.84)
1986        In the US the top 1% of taxpayers were responsible for 25.4% of all income taxes paid this year. In 2005 their share rose to 38.4%.
    (Econ, 4/4/09, SR p.14)

1986        Carolyn Webber and Aaron Wildavsky authored "History of Taxation and Expenditure in the Western World.
    (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R47)

1987        California Gov. George Deukmejian (1928-2018) presided over a $1 billion state tax rebate.
    (SFC, 5/9/18, p.A10)

1988        Britain set its top income tax rate at 40%.
    (Econ, 11/29/08, p.13)
1988        Canada reformed its tax system flattening the rate structure and cutting top rates.
    (Econ, 9/24/11, p.84)

1989        Apr 1, A Japanese 3% consumption, or sales tax, took effect. It earned Sadanori Yamanaka (d.2004) the nickname "Mr. Consumption Tax."  In 1997 it rose to 5%. Yamanaka led the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's tax commission for eight years, beginning in 1979.
    (AP, 2/20/04)(Econ, 6/16/12, p.43)

1989        British PM Margaret Thatcher's government introduces the hugely unpopular poll tax in Scotland a year before England. The tax was abolished across Britain in 1993.
    (Reuters, 2/16/12)

1991        Sweden cancelled its financial transactions tax (FTT).
    (Econ, 3/16/13, p.20)

1992        Norway introduced a carbon tax in an effort to fight global warming.
    (Econ, 6/2/07, p.22)
1992        Norway dramatically cut top tax rates on both labor and capital income, from a 58% top income tax rate to 28%.
    (Econ, 9/24/11, p.84)

1993        Oct 1, The US federal tax on gasoline was raised to 18.3 cents per gallon.
    (www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Transportation/trans-24.cfm)

1993        Charles Adams authored "For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization."
    (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R47)

1993        Rhode Island repealed its nautical taxes and became something of a nautical tax haven.
    (SFC, 7/24/10, p.A6)

1994        Jan 1, The California tax on gasoline was raised to 18 cents per gallon.
    (www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Transportation/trans-24.cfm)

1994        Dec 15, President Clinton, in a 12-minute prime-time address, presented a package of tax cuts for middle-income families raising children, and outlined deep reductions in government programs to help pay for them.
    (AP, 12/15/99)

1994        The "nanny tax" was simplified on the 1040 income tax form and required reporting wages of household employees in excess of $1,100.
    (SFEC, 4/5/98, p.A3)

1994        Estonia became the 1st European country to introduce a flat tax (26%) on personal and corporate income. Latvia and Lithuania soon followed suit.
    (Econ, 3/5/05, p.54)

1995        In Germany a federal property tax was ruled unconstitutional.
    (Economist, 9/8/12, p.50)

1997        Apr, Japan raised its national consumption tax from 3% to 5%. It was later seen as a move that wrecked economic confidence and sparked the beginning of a recession.
    (WSJ, 8/13/98, p.A14)(Econ, 7/22/06, p.67)

1998        Jul 22, President Clinton, with Republican lawmakers at his side, signed a bill designed to mold the Internal Revenue Service into a friendlier, fairer tax collector.
    (AP, 7/22/99)

1999        Aug 3, Congressional Republicans, shrugging off a presidential veto threat, nailed down the details of an agreement for a ten-year, $792 billion tax cut.
    (AP, 8/3/00)

1999        The California state Board of Equalization adopted a policy to tax cell phones at full retail price even if purchased at a discount under a bundled plan.
    (SFC, 11/8/11, p.A10)

2000        Jul 18, Shrugging off a veto threat from President Clinton, the Senate voted 61-to-38 in favor of eliminating the so-called "marriage penalty" by cutting taxes for virtually every married couple.
    (AP, 7/18/01)

2000        Jul 26, In Russia a tax reform bill was passed that scrapped the graduated income tax in favor of a 13% flat tax.
    (SFC, 7/27/00, p.A10)

2001        Aug 30, It was reported that some 40,000 tax forms were destroyed or concealed at a Pittsburgh processing center run by Mellon Bank.
    (WSJ, 8/30/01, p.A1)

2001        Sep 4, President Bush opened the door to a future cut in the capital gains tax, but said he first wanted to see the effects of the previous spring's income tax cut.
    (AP, 9/4/02)

2002        Stephen R. Weisman authored “The Great Tax Wars,” a survey of the US income tax since 1913.
    (WSJ, 9/25/02, p.D8)

2003        Dec 13, William Roth Jr. (82), former Delaware Senator, died. He was 1st elected to Congress in 1966 and served 5 terms as a senator. He helped created the popular Roth retirement account and the Kemp-Roth tax cuts. His wrote the book "The Power to Destroy" (1999), a look at the IRS.
    (SFC, 12/15/03, p.A2)(WSJ, 12/15/03, p.A1)

2004        May 17, The Alabama Legislature approved a 26 cent increase for a pack of cigarettes. This increased the tax from 16.5 cents to 42.5 cents.
    (USAT, 5/18/04, p.17A)

2004        Sep 23, The US Congress voted to extend 3 tax cuts aimed at the middle class along with a bevy of business tax breaks.
    (SFC, 9/24/04, p.A3)

2004        Oct 4, Pres. Bush signed an extension of middle-class tax cuts.
    (WSJ, 10/5/04, p.A1)

2004        Richard Yancey authored "Confessions of a Tax Collector.
    (WSJ, 3/2/04, p.D4)

2004        China’s national tax revenue of $318 billion came mostly from business taxes. The average Chinese paid $16 in income tax. Authorities in 90 Chinese cities turned some sales receipts into lottery tickets to encourage customers to demand trackable invoices.
    (WSJ, 3/31/05, p.A1)

2005        Mar 29, New York’s top court ruled that an out-of-state programmer must pay state taxes on his full salary despite working mostly via computer.
    (WSJ, 3/30/05, p.A1)

2005        Charles Rossotti, former IRS commissioner (1997-2002), authored “Many Unhappy Returns: One Man’s Quest to Turn Around The Most Unpopular Organization in America,” wherein he says that the IRS “picks on the little guy” while “largely overlooking an ocean of money hidden in business entities…”
    (SSFC, 4/10/05, p.C6)

2005        Spain adopted the so-called “Beckham law,” a preferential tax status to foreigners.
    (Econ, 9/24/11, p.85)
2005        Sweden eliminated its inheritance tax.
    (Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.20)

2006        The US government ended tax incentives for American firms manufacturing in Puerto Rico.
    (Econ, 10/26/13, p.18)
2006        In Italy the tax collection agency, Equitalia, was formed to take over tax collection operations previously carried out by reluctant banks and their subsidiaries.
    (Econ, 1/7/12, p.45)

2007        Nov 7, Prosecutors said 2 mid-level DC government employees used phony paperwork to collect more than $16 million from illegal tax refunds, avoiding detection for at least three years while issuing more than 40 checks cashed by friends and family members in on the scam. The total stolen was later raised to some $30 million. Harriet Walters, the alleged ringleader of the scam, authorized checks to such fake companies as Bilkemor LLC. In 2008 Walters (51) pleaded guilty to stealing some $48 million. 9 others pleaded guilty in the scam. Walters faced 15-18 years in prison and was ordered to pay restitution.
    (Econ, 11/24/07, p.36)(http://tinyurl.com/2o7sj5)(WSJ, 9/17/08, p.A19)

2007        Maltese company Nude Estates bought the Ausra shopping center in Utena, Lithuania. In 2017 it was revealed that U2 frontman Bono had used Nude Estates to buy a share in the shopping mall. U2 was heavily criticized in 2006 for moving its corporate base from Ireland to the Netherlands, where royalties on music incur virtually no tax.
    (AP, 11/6/17)
2007        Myanmar slashed real estate taxes to 15% from 50%. Drug traffickers seized the opportunity to convert their cash to real estate.
    (SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)
2007        Sweden eliminated its wealth tax.
    (Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.20)

2008        Jan 14, The trial of US film actor Wesley Snipes began regarding unpaid taxes from 1999-2004. During this period he earned $38 million and paid no taxes under advice from 2 tax professionals, who cited section 861 of the federal tax code.
    (SFC, 1/14/08, p.A2)

2008        Nov 12, US prosecutors charged Raoul Weil, a senior executive of Swiss bank UBS AG, of helping some 20,000 rich clients evade federal income taxes on assets of some $20 billion from 2002-2007. In 2014 a federal court in Florida acquitted Mr. Weil.
    (WSJ, 11/13/08, p.A1)(Econ, 11/8/14, p.76)

2008        Sweden eliminated its taxes on residential property.
    (Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.20)

2009        Feb 2, Tom Daschle, President Barack Obama's choice to head the Health and Human Services Department, apologized to the Senate panel that will decide his fate, saying he was "deeply embarrassed and disappointed" about failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes.
    (AP, 2/2/09)

2009        Feb 21, President Barack Obama ordered the US Treasury to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession.
    (Reuters, 2/21/09)

2009        Mar 6, The IRS said it would not renew its expiring contracts with two private debt collection agencies. An in-house tax collection program was cited as more effective.
    (WSJ, 3/7/09, p.A4)

2009        Mar 26, The US Internal Revenue Service announced new steps aimed at getting taxpayers hiding money in offshore accounts to pay up, promising not to file criminal charges for those who voluntarily fess up to hiding money overseas.
    (Reuters, 3/26/09)

2009        May 4, President Barack Obama proposed changing provisions in the tax code that he says encourage US companies to move jobs overseas, as part of a broader package aimed at saving $210 billion over 10 years.
    (Reuters, 5/4/09)

2009        Jun 15, Georgia’s Supreme Court ordered Expedia Inc. and its Hotwire.com subsidiary to collect and pay hotel occupancy taxes to the west Georgia city of Columbus in a possible precedent for cities across the country.
    (SFC, 6/17/09, p.C1)

2009        Jul 21, Oakland, Ca., residents overwhelmingly voted to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical marijuana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries.
    (AP, 7/22/09)

2009        Oct 13, The Missouri Dept. of Revenue sent letters to 140 yoga and Pilates telling them they must collect sales tax on fees for their classes and services.
    (SFC, 11/5/09, p.A8)

2010        Jan 12, A web site linked to leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Poland's tax office has levied a fine of 2.3 million zlotys ($820,000) on an unemployed woman for failing to pay tax on income worth at least 13.7 million zlotys she said she had earned as a prostitute.
    (Reuters, 1/13/10)

2010        Jan 26, Oregon voters approved Measures 66 and 67 endorsing higher taxes on businesses and the rich amid the current economic slump.
    (SFC, 1/28/10, p.A8)

2010        Feb 19, The German Tax Union said about 2,500 people in Germany have confessed to tax evasion to avoid punishment amid a heated debate over whether authorities should buy stolen data from Swiss bank accounts.
    (AP, 2/19/10)

2010        Mar 18, The final version of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 (FATCA) became law as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. FATCA was due to take effect in 2014.
    (http://tinyurl.com/bljlcvz)(Economist, 9/15/12, p.71)(Econ, 10/12/13, p.38)

2010        Mar 26, Germany and Switzerland said they have reached a preliminary deal on an agreement to exchange information on suspected tax cheats, an important step toward defusing a long-festering irritant in their relations.
    (AP, 3/26/10)

2010        May 18, Arizona voters approved a 1% sales tax increase.
    (http://tinyurl.com/n2mdega)

2010        Jun 15, The Swiss parliament approved a treaty with the US that will hand thousands of files on suspected tax cheats to US authorities, but obstacles remain that could delay the deal for several more months.
    (AP, 6/15/10)

2010        Sep 4, British tax collectors said a new computer system has revealed that almost 6 million people have paid the wrong amount of income tax, and 1.4 million will be told to repay an average of 1,500 pounds ($2,300) each.
    (AP, 9/4/10)

2010        Oct 19, Two employees of the US Virgin Islands' tax bureau were accused of leading a scheme that pilfered as much as $500,000 from the government using fraudulent tax refund checks. Tax bureau employees Tiffanne Sutton and Colette Hacket-Browne and others had allegedly taken part in tax fraud since 2006.
    (AP, 10/20/10)

2010        Nov, Ronald L. Brekke of California was arrested for helping nearly 1,000 people falsely claim millions of dollars in tax refunds. He had earned over $400,000 since February 2009. Brekke had told his victims the US Treasury would pay out tax refunds equal to their personal debt, a deception known as "1099 OID" fraud, after the form used to claim the refund. The scam started to fall apart after two co-conspirators, both Canadians, tried to cash refund checks worth more than $350,000 each at a bank in Bellingham, Wash. In 2012 Brekke was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud.
    (AP, 3/18/12)

2010        Dec 15, New statistics showed that the IRS has increased the number of returns it audited by nearly 11 percent this year. Wealthy taxpayers and big businesses were most likely to be targeted.
    (AP, 12/15/10)

2010        Dec 18, Germany’s weekly Der Spiegel reported that local tax authorities recovered 1.6 billion euros this year from citizens who had stashed their cash in secret accounts in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
    (AFP, 12/18/10)

2010        Dec 21, US tax authorities announced that Deutsche Bank has admitted criminal wrongdoing and agreed to pay more than $550 million in connection with its participation in tax shelters from 1996-2002 that enabled the rich to temporarily avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxes.
    (AP, 12/22/10)

2011        Jan 3, Ed Miliband, Britain’s Labor leader, warned that the VAT rise from 17.5% to 20% will cost families £7.50 from January 4, and put 250,000 jobs at risk.
    (AFP, 1/3/11)

2011        Jan 4, The Internal Revenue Service kicked off the US tax filing season, announcing that taxpayers will have until April 18, 2011 to file their 2010 returns and pay their tax bills because of a holiday on April 15.
    (Reuters, 1/5/11)

2011        Jan 5, Federal prosecutors said IRS agent Albert Bront (51) pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to filing false tax returns for himself and two innocent relatives. The false tax form claims included bogus alimony and mortgage deductions.
    (AP, 1/7/11)

2011        Jan 6, In the Netherlands the daily Het Parool reported that prostitutes in Amsterdam will be required to pay taxes this year. Over 3,000 sex workers were affected by the move.
    (SFC, 1/7/11, p.A2)
2011        Jan 6, Romanian witches angry about having to pay income taxes for the first time hurled poisonous mandrake into the Danube River to cast spells on the president and government.
    (AP, 1/6/11)

2011        Jan 13, The US Treasury said it is launching a pilot program to deliver income tax refunds on debit cards for low- and moderate-income people who do not have traditional bank accounts.
    (Reuters, 1/13/11)
2011        Jan 13, Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation that temporarily raises Illinois income taxes by two-thirds, risking a political backlash against Democrats but gaining money to help drag state government out of the deepest budget hole in its history.
    (AP, 1/13/11)

2011        Jan 19, India’s Supreme Court asked the government to release more details on how rich Indians stash money abroad to evade taxes.
    (Econ, 1/22/11, p.51)

2011        Jan 27, Australia imposed a temporary new tax to help fund a multi-billion-dollar rebuilding program after floods devastated infrastructure and ruined thousands of homes and businesses across the eastern seaboard over the past month.
    (Reuters, 1/27/11)

2011        Jan 28, China introduced its first home-ownership tax in the cities of Chongqing, .4%-.6% of the property’s value, and Shanghai, .5$-1.2%.
    (Econ, 2/5/11, p.52)

2011        Mar 3, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his indebted government said they are abandoning a tax ceiling for big earners, once hailed as key to modernizing France and luring investors.
    (AP, 3/3/11)

2011        Mar 11, Amazon.com notified its Illinois partners that it will stop doing business with them on April 15 because of a new state law requiring the online store to collect sales taxes.
    (SFC, 3/12/11, p.D2)

2011        Mar 30, It was reported that GE has calculated a corporate tax bill for 2010 that adds up to zero, in spite of robust profits of $14.2 billion worldwide, via a creative series of tax referrals and revenue shifts. This was, indeed, the second year running that the company—which has an enormous, and famously nimble, 975-employee tax division, led by former Treasury official John Samuels—paid nothing in US taxes.
    (http://tinyurl.com/69odvgp)

2011        Jun 27, Kenya's PM Raila Odinga paid more than $37,000 in back taxes to abide by a new constitution that requires lawmakers to pay taxes on their hefty allowances. Kenya's Revenue Authority last week said lawmakers' properties will be auctioned if they don't each pay nearly $21,000 in back taxes.
    (AP, 6/28/11)

2011        Jun, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought in a cap on property taxes.
    (Econ, 1/28/12, p.28)

2011        Sep 19, President Barack Obama laid out a $3 trillion plan to cut US deficits by raising taxes on the rich, but Republicans mocked it as a political stunt, signaling the proposal has little chance of becoming law.
    (Reuters, 9/19/11)

2011        Sep 23, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed compromise legislation under which Amazon.com drops its attempt to overturn by referendum an online sales tax in return for the state agreeing to postpone collections until next September. Amazon said it will create 10,000 full-time jobs in the state and invest $500 million in a variety of facilities.
    (SFC, 9/27/11, p.D1)

2011        Oct 1, Denmark imposed a “fat tax” on foods such as butter and oil as a way to curb unhealthy eating habits.
    (SFC, 10/3/11, p.A2)

2011        Oct 6, Britain and Switzerland signed an agreement to tax money kept by British residents in secret Swiss bank accounts, a move which could net the British government billions of pounds and help Swiss banking clean up its image. The deal, which must still be approved by the parliaments of both countries, should come into force in 2013.
    (Reuters, 10/6/11)

2011        Nov 16, In Washington DC a band of millionaires stormed Capitol Hill to urge Congress to tax them more.
    (AP, 11/16/11)

2011        Nov 21, US Congress' super-committee conceded ignominious defeat in its quest to conquer a government debt that stands at a staggering $15 trillion, unable to overcome deep and enduring political divisions over taxes and spending.
    (AP, 11/21/11)

2011        Dec 12, The Illinois House approved a package of tax relief for families and businesses, including big names like Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, that threatened to leave the state. When fully phased in the cuts will cost state government some $320 million per year.
    (SFC, 12/13/11, p.A11)

2011        Dec 22, US House Speaker John Boehner announced that Republicans have decided to accept a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut, preventing a hike in taxes just nine days before the tax break expires for 160 million Americans.
    (Reuters, 12/22/11)

2011        Dec 30, Spain’s new PM Mariano Rajoy announced tax rises on income, savings and property. The top tax rate will jump 7 points to 52%.
    (Econ, 1/7/12, p.44)

2011        Nicholas Shaxson authored “Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens.”
    (Econ, 2/11/12, p.62)

2012        Jan 8, Britain’s PM David Cameron said he would veto a European-wide financial transaction tax unless it was imposed globally, deepening a confrontation with European Union heavyweights France and Germany. Cameron also suggested that legislation to curb excessive executive pay, including giving shareholders new voting powers, could be set out in the spring.
    (Reuters, 1/8/12)

2012        Feb 2, The US Justice Department said it has indicted Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank, on charges that it enabled wealthy Americans to evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion hidden in offshore bank accounts.
    (Reuters, 2/3/12)

2012        Feb 17, The US Congress approved legislation renewing a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for millions more, backing the main items on President Barack Obama's jobs agenda in a rare burst of Washington bipartisanship.
    (AP, 2/17/12)

2012        Apr 11, A global tax group added its voice to protests against an Indian plan to retroactively tax business deals, saying it could deter foreign investment in Asia's third-largest economy. New Delhi's planned change to the Income Tax Act announced in last month's budget would be retroactive to 1962 and would oblige domestic and foreign firms alike to pay tax on any transaction involving an Indian asset.
    (AFP, 4/11/12)

2012        Apr 20, Switzerland said it has revised a tax pact agreed with Britain last year and will offer it a higher rate of withholding tax, after Germany earlier this month succeeded in obtaining more favorable terms in a similar deal with the Swiss government.
    (Reuters, 4/20/12)

2012        Aug 17, In Greece a local crowd on the island of Hydra attacked tax police after they detained a restaurant owner who did not provide receipts to clients. Riot police arrived the next day and the owner was transported to Athens by coast guard ship.
    (AP, 8/19/12)

2012        Dec 16, French actor Gerard Depardieu said in an open letter that he is turning in his passport following his move to tax-friendly Belgium after PM Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu pathetic and unpatriotic.
    (SFC, 12/17/12, p.A2)

2012        Bruce Bartlett authored “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform – Why we need It and What It will Take.
    (Econ, 2/4/12, p.86)
2012        Kansas cut its income taxes.
    (SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A6)
2012        PWC auditor Antoine Deltour passed 28,000 pages of documents to Edouard Perrin, a French journalist, exposing tax deals between Luxembourg and 340 corporate clients in what came to be known as the “LuxLeaks” affair.
    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_Leaks)(Econ, 4/30/15, p.60)

2013        Feb 21, Britain’s HM Revenue and Customs published the names of what it described as "tax cheats" for the first time, part of efforts to address public anger over tax evasion at a time of economic austerity.
    (Reuters, 2/21/13)

2013        Mar 16, In Cyprus anxious depositors drained cash from ATMs after European officials ruled that part of a new 10-billion-euro bailout must be paid for directly from the bank accounts of ordinary savers. An emergency deal in Brussels set a one-time levy of 9.9% on Cypriot bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros. Deposits under that would be taxed at 6.75%.
    (SSFC, 2/17/13, p.A3)

2013        Mar 20, Chancellor George Osborne said Britain will raise the personal tax allowance to 10,000 pounds in 2014-15, a year earlier than expected.
    (AP, 3/20/13)

2013        Mar, France’s highest legal authority said no individual tax should exceed 66.6%.
    (Econ, 4/16/13, p.60)

2013        May 15, US Attorney General Eric Holder promised angry lawmakers that the Justice Department will undertake a national investigation into the IRS wrongdoing. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew forced out Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. A Treasury Department Inspector General's report had detailed how the IRS in 2010 had targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.
    (AP, 5/15/13)

2013        Jun 7, Vodafone Group Plc said it paid no corporation tax in Britain for the year to March 2013, prompting fresh criticism from campaigners who have made the UK mobile telephone group a target in the debate on corporate tax payments.
    (AP, 6/7/13)

2013        Jun 15, Britain clinched a deal with its major offshore tax havens on Saturday that will see 10 British overseas territories and crown dependencies sign up to international protocols on information sharing. Those included were Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
    (Reuters, 6/15/13)

2013        Jun 18, In Northern Ireland a G-8 initiative reflected widespread anger over the ability of foreign companies to funnel profits to tax-friendly countries. As part of the G-8's plans, to be developed at a G-20 summit later this year, multinationals would be obliged to declare how much tax they pay in each country where they operate.
    (AP, 6/18/13)

2013        Jun 19, In Italy a Milan court convicted the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion. They were found guilty of failing to declare 200 million euros ($268 million) through a Luxembourg company to authorities and given a one year and eight months suspended jail sentence. They were also ordered to pay a penalty of 500,000 euros (about $670,000) to tax authorities.
    (AP, 6/19/13)

2013        Jul 16, Rashia Wilson (27) of Tampa, Florida, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for tax fraud. She and eager associates had claimed bogus tax refunds of over $11 million.
    (http://tinyurl.com/nzj479x)(Econ, 11/30/13, p.27)

2013        Sep 6, G20 leaders meeting in Russia committed to crack down on cross-border companies that use tax havens. They also agreed on a plan to share information on individual taxpayers by the end of 2015.
    (AP, 9/6/13)

2013        Oct 1, Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe declared that he would raise the copnsumption tax in Arpil from 5% to 8%.
    (Econ, 10/5/13, p.43)

2013        Oct 2, H. Ty Warner (69), billionaire creator of the Beanie Babies, pleaded guilty to a tax evasion charge in a Chicago court.
    (SFC, 10/3/13, p.A6)

2013        Oct 18, The Netherlands Supreme Court said municipalities are entitled to to tax dog ownership because they have to pick up the bill for keeping public parks and streets clean.
    (SFC, 10/18/13, p.A2)

2013        Oct 25, French President Francois Hollande said he will stick to a government tax plan to impose a super-levy on soccer players' salaries despite the threat of the nation's pro clubs to scrap games one weekend next month.
    (AP, 10/25/13)

2013        Oct 31, In Greece thousands of protesters clogged Athens to demonstrate against a new property tax. The anger was registered across society, with retirees, disabled groups, shipyard workers and high school teachers among those taking part.
    (AP, 10/31/13)

2013        Nov 7, The IRS said is issued $4 billion in fraudulent tax returns last year to people using stolen identities. 655 went to a single address in Lithuania, 343 to a lone adress in Shanghai. Miami topped city destinations in the US.
    (SFC, 11/8/13, p.A7)

2013        Nov 29, The US Department of Treasury said in a statement that the Cayman Islands, a British territory, will share tax information about US account holders with the US Internal Revenue Service.
    (AP, 11/29/13)

2013        Dec 21, Greece's coalition government pushed through parliament a new property tax required under the country's international bailout obligations, but saw its majority dwindle in the process.
    (AFP, 12/21/13)

2013        Dec 23, Nearly half Pakistan's lawmakers reported they paid no taxes, according to a study released today, findings that may endanger billions of dollars in IMF and other loans and aid that shore up a faltering economy.
    (Reuters, 12/23/13)

2013        Dec 29, France's Constitutional Council gave the green light on to a 'millionaire's tax', to be levied on companies that pay salaries of more than 1 million euros ($1.38 million) a year.
    (Reuters, 12/29/13)

2014        Jan 14, A Chicago federal court sentenced H. Ty Warner (69), the billionaire businessman behind Beanie Babies, to two years probation for not paying taxes on $25 million he had hidden.
    (SFC, 1/15/14, p.A4)

2014        Feb 14, Louis Willis, the former director of the US Virgin Islands' Internal Revenue Bureau, turned himself in under charges of tax evasion.
    (AP, 2/15/14)

2014        Mar 10, Colorado said marijuana sales brought in $3.5 million in tax revenues and fees in the first month retail pot outlets were allowed.
    (AFP, 3/10/14)
2014        Mar 10, In Germany Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness admitted to evading millions of euros (dollars) in taxes through an undeclared Swiss bank account at a trial that could send the German football great to prison.
    (AP, 3/10/14)

2014        Apr 1, Japan raised its sales tax to 8% from 5%, moving to stabilize government finances and reduce soaring debt, but at the risk of undermining a shaky economic recovery.
    (AP, 4/1/14)

2014        Apr 8, In France Manuel Valls used his first speech to parliament as prime minister to announce corporation tax cuts and outline public spending savings.
    (Reuters, 4/8/14)

2014        Apr 10, An Israeli official said Israel would stop the tax money transfers in retaliation for the Palestinians pushing to sign up for more recognition from international agencies and treaties. Israel collects about $100 million a month in taxes for the Palestinians.
    (AP, 4/11/14)

2014        May 6, Austrian Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger said a group of 11 European Union countries have agreed to introduce a financial transaction tax from 2016 onward.
    (AP, 5/6/14)

2014        Jun 20, European Union finance ministers in Luxembourg agreed on a reform to close a loophole that allowed companies to shift some of their profits between different country divisions to avoid taxation.
    (AP, 6/20/14)

2014        Nov 27, Argentina's tax agency charged British bank HSBC with helping more than 4,000 Argentines to commit tax evasion by stashing money in secret Swiss accounts.
    (AFP, 11/27/14)

2014        Dec 3, Britain’s Treasury chief George Osborne unveiled plans to crack down on multinational tax avoiders as he sought to deflect criticism for failing to meet his budget targets.
    (AP, 12/3/14)

2014        Dec 10, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists named Disney and Koch Industries, an energy and chemical conglomerate, as among 35 big companies it said had been seeking secret tax deals in Luxembourg.
    (AP, 12/10/14)
2014        Dec 10, A group of Gambian diplomats were jailed after being found guilty of running a huge tax-dodging tobacco operation out of the Gambian embassy in London. Yusupha Bojang (54), was identified as the ringleader of the operation, ordering half-a-million packets of tax-free rolling tobacco over three years and selling it out of the west London building.
    (AFP, 12/10/14)

2014        Dec 11, The head of Hungary's tax authority sued a senior American diplomat in Budapest for libel after the envoy said the US had knowledge of corruption at the tax office.
    (AP, 12/11/14)

2014        Dec 31, In France a 50 percent tax paid by employers on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million) ended today. Socialist President Francois Hollande's 75% super tax had been rejected by a court and re-written to 50%.
    (AP, 12/31/14)

2015        Jan 1, In the Bahamas a new 7.5 percent tax value-added went into effect only for businesses whose profits exceed $100,000 a year.
    (AP, 1/3/15)

2015        Feb 12, Greece reported that tax revenues slumped 23 percent below target in January as citizens held off on paying taxes before a snap election, marking a setback for the new left-wing government as it seeks a deal with European partners to avert a financial crisis.
    (Reuters, 2/12/15)

2015        Feb 25, The South African government raised taxes and scaled back spending plans in its annual budget as it wrestled with stalling growth, rising debt, power blackouts and rampant unemployment.
    (AFP, 2/25/15)

2015        Mar 3, Australia and Switzerland signed an accord in Canberra aimed at cracking down on tax evaders.
    (AP, 3/3/15)

2015        Mar 12, US government investigator Timothy Camus said fake tax agents have targeted more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls demanding payments and threatening jail time as part of a huge nationwide scam that partly involves call centers in India.
    (AP, 3/12/15)

2015        Mar 26, Brazil’s Federal Police said they had uncovered "criminal organizations" suspected of causing a shortfall of at least 6 billion reais ($1.9 billion) in unpaid taxes. More than 50 companies in the industrial, financial and agricultural sectors were being investigated for allegedly bribing officials at the Finance Ministry's tax appeals court to reduce annual fines on unpaid taxes.
    (AP, 3/27/15)

2015        Apr 28, The US National Football League (NFL) said it has decided to give up its tax-exempt status under section 501(c)6 of the IRS code.
    (SFC, 4/29/15, p.C1)

2015        May 18, The US Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a Maryland tax that has the effect of double-taxing income residents earn in other states.
    (AP, 5/18/15)

2015        May 29, Puerto Rico's Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed into law a tax bill that is expected to provide the commonwealth with about $1.2 billion in much-needed additional tax revenue for the next fiscal year.
    (Reuters, 5/29/15)

2015        Jun 10, The Vatican formally committed to share tax information of US citizens with the United States.
    (SFC, 6/11/15, p.A2)

2015        Jul 23, In Belgium the center-right government of PM Charles Michel pushed through a tax shift to lighten the cost of labor for businesses and offset it with taxes on energy, alcohol and tobacco. After all-night negotiations that stretched into today, the Michel government announced it would balance the budget by 2018.
    (AP, 7/23/15)

2015        Aug 7, It was reported that Thailand’s new Inheritance Tax Act 2015 has gone into effect and that it will start collecting inheritance tax for the first time next February.
    (AP, 8/7/15)

2015        Sep 7, China said it would remove personal income tax on dividends for shareholders who hold stocks for more than a year.
    (Reuters, 9/7/15)

2015        Oct 1, The Polish government was reported to have organized the nation's first shopping receipt lottery aimed at boosting budget income from sales taxes. Deputy Finance Minister Izabela Leszczyna said the lottery is intended to encourage shoppers to ask for receipts from sellers, leading to less evasion on sales tax.
    (AP, 10/1/15)

2015        Oct 6, The European Union's 28 finance ministers agreed to share details of tax deals their countries reach with big multinational companies. The rule would be enacted across the 28 member states by the start of 2017.
    (AP, 10/6/15)   

2015        Oct 21, The European Union demanded that Starbucks and Fiat repay up to 30 million euros ($34 million) each in back taxes.
    (AP, 10/21/15)

2015        Oct 16, Irwin Schiff (87), America’s loudest tax protester, died. Schiff had stopped paying his federal income taxes from 1974 on the chief ground that it was unconstitutional. His books included the New York Times bestseller “How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Taxes” (1982).
    (Econ, 10/31/15, p.86)

2015        Dec 30, Italian prosecutors said Apple has agreed to pay Italy about $350 million in taxes for years 2008-2013.
    (SFC, 12/31/15, p.A5)

2016        Jan 22, Technology giant Google said it will pay £130 million ($185.4 million, 172 million euros) in back taxes to Britain following a government inquiry into its tax arrangements.
    (AFP, 1/23/16)

2016        Feb 8, France's former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac (63), who stashed millions abroad while cracking down on tax cheats at home, went on trial for tax fraud and money laundering.
    (AFP, 2/9/16)

2016        Apr 7, The EU's executive said European Union states should agree on a common list of tax havens in the next semester and impose sanctions on countries that hide EU-taxable revenues in the wake of the Panama leaks.
    (Reuters, 4/7/16)

2016        Apr 10, British PM David Cameron took the unusual step of publishing his tax records to try to end days of questions about his personal wealth raised by the mention of his late father's offshore fund in the Panama Papers.
    (AP, 4/10/16)

2016        Apr 13, Puerto Rico said it is publishing for the first time a list of delinquent taxpayers in hopes of recovering a portion of government-owed revenue amid a worsening economic crisis. The list represents those who owe more than $50,000 worth of sales tax.
    (AP, 4/13/16)

2016        May 1, China extended its value-added tax (VAT) from the sale mainly of goods to all major service sectors, including construction and finance.
    (Econ, 5/7/16, p.38)

2016        May 11, Indian officials announced plans to close a tax loophole that allows its citizens to channel income through the tropical island of Mauritius and avoid paying taxes.
    (AP, 5/11/16)

2016        May 27, The European Union said it is launching an effort to contain the so-called "grey economy" of undeclared and untaxed work. Under its new plan, the EU will seek to exchange best practices to combat undeclared work among the 28 member states and boost common projects.
    (AP, 5/27/16)

2016        Jun 29, In Luxembourg two whistleblowers in the "LuxLeaks" tax scandal were given suspended jail sentences for leaking thousands of documents that exposed Luxembourg's huge tax breaks for major international companies. Former PricewaterhouseCoopers employees Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet received 12-month and nine-month sentences respectively while journalist Edouard Perrin was acquitted of all charges. In March 2017 the sentence for Antoine Deltour (31) was reduced to six months suspended with a 1,500-euro fine. Raphael Halet (40) received a 1,000-euro fine instead of a nine-month prison sentence.
    (AFP, 6/29/16)(AFP, 3/15/17)

2016        Jul 6, In Spain a Barcelona court sentenced soccer star Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in prison for tax fraud, with both sentences likely to be suspended.
    (AP, 7/6/16)

2016        Jul, Indonesia began a tax amnesty program. It ended on March 31, 2017, after more than 8,000 tax evaders declared some 4,700 trillion rupiah ($350 billion) in assets previously hidden from authorities.
    (Econ, 4/1/17, p.68)

2016        Aug 1, Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged citizens to take part in the country's new tax amnesty and pledged his government will "go all out" to keep the law behind it from potentially getting blocked in court.
    (Reuters, 8/1/16)

2016        Aug 12, Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton released her 2015 tax return and criticized her Republican rival Donald Trump for bucking a long-standing tradition by failing to do the same.
    (AFP, 8/13/16)

2016        Aug 30, The EU ordered Apple to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, saying deals allowing the US tech giant to pay almost no tax were illegal. Apple derided the ruling. Ireland’s tax collection agency, the Revenue Commissioners, insisted that Apple hasn’t dodged a penny of lawfully calculated tax in Ireland.
    (AFP, 8/30/16)(AP, 8/30/16)

2016        Sep 1, Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said his company has put aside "several billion dollars" to pay tax liabilities in the United States as it repatriates some of its huge overseas earnings. Apple held nearly $215 billion in cash and securities outside the US, much of that generated by its Irish subsidiaries.
    (AP, 9/1/16)

2016        Dec 25, China's largely rubber-stamp parliament passed a law that will levy specific environmental protection taxes on industry for the first time from 2018, as part of a renewed focus on fighting the country's pollution woes. A law that levies taxes on pollution ignored carbon dioxide, one of the major contributors to global warming.
    (Reuters, 12/25/16)(AFP, 12/26/16)

2017        Mar, India slipped a new rule into the annual budget bill that frees taxmen to raid or seize any property at any time with no need to explain why.
    (Econ, 4/8/17, p.34)

2017        Apr 26, The Trump administration released a plan for massive business and personal tax cuts, but only vague indications of how to pay for them.
    (SFC, 4/27/17, p.A1)

2017        May 12, Lawyers for President Donald Trump said that a review of his last 10 years of tax returns did not reflect "any income of any type from Russian sources," but their letter included exceptions related to previously cited income generated from a beauty pageant and sale of a Florida estate.
    (AP, 5/13/17)

2017        May 29, Egypt announced a $2.49 billion package of income tax discounts, bonuses for state employees, increased pension payments and cash subsidies for lower and middle income Egyptians to cope with soaring inflation.
    (AP, 5/29/17)

2017        Jun 11, In Saudi Arabia the price of a pack of cigarettes doubled for smokers under first-time tax measures to help the kingdom cope with a drop in oil revenues. The cost of energy drinks also doubled and the price of soft drinks rose 50 percent.
    (AFP, 6/11/17)

2017        Jul 1, India launched its biggest ever fiscal reform with the government promising that a new nationwide tax would make the economy stronger and less corrupt. The new goods and services tax (GST) replaces more than a dozen levies imposed nationally and by the 29 states.
    (AFP, 7/1/17)

2017        Aug 16, Cambodian tax authorities denied there is a political motive for a crackdown on delinquent taxpayers that prominently targets media and civil society organizations critical of the government.
    (AP, 8/16/17)

2017        Aug 21, The United Arab Emirates approved a new law that imposes taxes on tobacco products, energy drinks and soft drinks to boost revenue and help offset the impact of lower oil prices. Tobacco and energy drinks will be taxed at 100 percent and soft drinks at 50 percent.
    (AP, 8/21/17)

2017        Sep 27, The Trump administration outlined its new tax plan, which included a sharp reduction in the taxation of business income, elimination of the estate tax and eliminating the alternative minimum tax.
    (SFC, 9/28/17, p.A4)

2017        Oct 4, The European Union ordered Amazon to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg, in its latest attempt to tighten the screws on multinationals it says are avoiding taxes through sweetheart deals with individual EU states.
    (AP, 10/4/17)

2017        Nov 2, US Republican lawmakers unveiled a sweeping rewrite of the tax code, outlining a $1.5 trillion plan to cut taxes for corporations. The plan reduced the cap on interest rate deductions for home mortgages from $1 million to $500,000.
    (SFC, 11/3/17, p.A1)

2017        Nov 6, The EU denounced as "shocking" revelations on the way top companies and dignitaries, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, avoid taxes using offshore wealth hubs.
    (AFP, 11/6/17)
2017        Nov 6, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross denied wrongdoing over business ties to a shipping firm linked to Vladimir Putin's inner circle, detailed in a vast leak of financial documents that also revealed Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's investments in tax havens. The findings emerged as part of the Paradise Papers released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the Panama Papers made public last year.
    (AFP, 11/6/17)

2017        Nov 7, The EU pushed for Europe to draw up a blacklist of tax havens after the "Paradise Papers" revealed loopholes used by Apple and Nike as well as celebrities including Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.
    (AFP, 11/7/17)

2017        Nov 8, Romania's leftist government approved an unpopular measure that means workers will pay social welfare taxes currently paid by employers.
    (AP, 11/8/17)

2017        Nov 9, In Germany a Swiss man (Daniel M.) was given a 22-month suspended prison sentence for spying on German tax officials between July 2011 and February 2015.
    (AP, 11/9/17)

2017        Dec 1, A GOP tax bill, known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” was approved by 51 Republican senators. The 479-page bill received no hearings and major changes were being made earlier the same day. An analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation found that growth fueled by the bill’s tax cuts would be minimal and that the bill would add $1 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
    (SFC, 12/2/17, p.A7)

2018        Jan 23, European Union finance ministers agreed to remove eight jurisdictions from the bloc's blacklist of tax havens, one month after the list was set up. Barbados, Grenada, South Korea, Macao, Mongolia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates joined Panama as jurisdictions delisted following commitments made at a high political level to remedy EU concerns.
    (Reuters, 1/23/18)

2018        Feb 27, Israel suspended tax measures and other actions that led to the rare closure of the church built at what is seen as the holiest site in Christianity, shut down all week in protest.
    (AFP, 2/27/18)

2018        Mar 7, The EU’s executive branch pointed the finger at Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands for "aggressive" tax policies designed to undercut others to attract multinational companies.
    (AP, 3/7/18)

2018        Mar 21, The EU unveiled proposals for a digital tax that targets US tech giants, heaping more problems on Facebook after revelations over misused data of 50 million users shocked the world.
    (AFP, 3/21/18)

2018        Jun 14, In France thousands of retirees protested across the country over a tax hike on their pensions. The tax hike has been in effect since January and has impacted some eight million retirees.
    (AP, 6/14/18)

2018        Jun 15, A legal source said Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to pay the Spanish taxman 18.8 million euro ($20 million) to settle a tax fraud claim.
    (AFP, 6/15/18)

2018        Jun 21, Australia's Senate passed personal income tax cuts worth 144 billion Australian dollars ($106 billion) over a decade. The tax cuts for most of Australia's workforce were a centerpiece of PM Malcolm Turnbull's annual budget plans revealed in May.
    (AP, 6/21/18)

2018        Jun 28, Spain's Tax Office included Rodrigo Rato, former IMF head (2004 to 2007), on its list of individuals and companies that owe over a million euros in taxes. Rato was found guilty in 2017 of unlawful misappropriation of funds during his 2010-12 leadership of Bankia, a Spanish bank that later had to be bailed out by the state.
    (AP, 6/28/18)   

2018        Jul 1, In Uganda a new tax on social media took effect, angering many who see the revenue measure as an attack on free speech.
    (AP, 7/2/18)

2018        Jul 18, Pennsylvania's highest court upheld Philadelphia's tax on soda and other sweetened drinks.
    (SFC, 7/18/18, p.A4)

2018        Oct 3, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that tax authorities have ordered "X-Men" star Fan Bingbing and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties totaling $130 million, ending speculation over the fate of one of the country's highest-profile entertainers three months after she disappeared from public view.
    (AP, 10/3/18)

2018        Nov 6, Voters in Mt. View, California, the home town of Google, backed Measure P, which implements a per-employee business license tax that ranges from $5 to $150 per worker, rising with the size of the company.
    (SFC, 11/9/18, p.D2)

2018        Dec 1, Sri Lanka slashed a tax on sugary drinks in a controversial reversal of an anti-diabetes policy that attracted immediate criticism. Health campaigners and a former minister condemned the move as damaging the fight against obesity and diabetes among young people.
    (AFP, 12/1/18)

2018        Dec 10, Puerto Rico's governor signed a bill to overhaul the US territory's tax laws in a bid to help workers and some business owners amid a 12-year recession.
    (AP, 12/10/18)

2018        Dec 21, In Romania visiting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz suggested that foreign companies could pull out of Romania after the government unveiled a surprise plan to levy extra taxes on banks and energy companies.
    (AP, 12/21/18)

2019        Jan 1, France ditched a system whereby residents file income tax returns based on the previous year's earnings, replacing it with a system where the state deducts the taxes directly from people's salaries or pensions each month.
    (AFP, 1/1/19)

2019        Feb 5, Apple said it has reached an agreement with French authorities over 10 years of back taxes, confirming information published by the French magazine L'Express. The magazine reported that the firm paid nearly 500 million euros ($570 million) to resolve the case in a confidential settlement reached in December.
    (AFP, 2/5/19)

2019        Feb 7, The council of Scotland's capital Edinburgh said it will become the first British city to introduce a tourist tax to try to better manage the impact of swelling visitor numbers and booming hotel occupancy. The idea needs a final sign-off by Scotland's devolved parliament.
    (Reuters, 2/7/19)

2019        Feb 27, The Palestinian Authority said it will not accept tax revenues from Israel following the latter's decision to deduct sums Palestinians pay to prisoners and people killed in fighting with Israel.
    (AP, 2/27/19)

2019        Mar 12, European Union governments adopted a broadened blacklist of tax havens, adding the United Arab Emirates and British and Dutch overseas territories in a revamp that tripled the number of listed jurisdictions. The new list added Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, Barbados, Belize, the British overseas territory of Bermuda, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu and Dominica. The EU blacklist originally comprised 17 jurisdictions, including the UAE, but shrank to five after most listed states committed to change their tax rules.
    (Reuters, 3/12/19)

2019        Apr 3, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS to provide six years of Pres. Trump's personal tax returns by April 10.
    (SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)

2019        Apr 23, A White House official said Pres. Donald Trump would not comply with a deadline set by House Democrats to release his tax returns to Congress. The Treasury Dept. missed the first deadline and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin said he needed more time to study the lawfulness of the request.
    (SFC, 4/24/19, p.A6)

2019        Apr 25, French President Emmanuel Macron promised a new round of tax cuts worth 5.0 billion euros ($5.5 billion) as part of a raft of measures in answer to five months of anti-government street protests over the high cost of living.
    (AFP, 4/26/19)

2019        May 5, President Donald Trump announced a surprise threat to raise import taxes. Trump said he would raise import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese products to 25% from 10% as of May 10. Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on another $325 billion in Chinese imports, covering everything China ships annually to the United States.
    (AP, 5/06/19)

2019        Jul 26, In Thailand new legislation published in the Royal Gazette exempted King Maha Vajiralongkorn from tax on some of his land property. The Thai king has been listed as the world's richest monarch. Business Insider estimated his personal wealth at more than $30 billion in 2018.
    (Reuters, 7/28/19)

2019        Aug 1, Poland scrapped its personal income tax for young employees earning less than $22,000 a year, as part of a drive to reverse a brain drain and demographic decline that's dimming the prospects of a country that is otherwise experiencing strong economic growth.
    (AP, 8/1/19)

2019        Aug 2, Zambia said it will delay implementing a new sales tax until January 2020 to allow for further refinement of the law.
    (Reuters, 8/2/19)

2019        Aug 21, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed to exempt most taxpayers from the solidarity tax that was introduced after the county's reunification.
    (Reuters, 8/21/19)

2019        Aug 22, The Palestinian Authority said it has reached an agreement with Israel to restore some of the much-needed tax funds withheld by Israel in recent months.
    (AP, 8/22/19)

2019        Aug 26, It was reported that French and US negotiators have reached a compromise agreement on France's digital tax, a levy which prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten a separate tax on French wine imports.
    (Reuters, 8/26/19)

2019        Sep 17, The Dutch government said it plans to reform a business tax rule that allows wealthy multinationals to reduce the amount of tax they pay on their profits.
    (AP, 9/17/19)

2019        Sep 19, A US federal judge blocked California from enforcing its new law that would require Pres. Trump and other candidates for president and governor to release their tax returns to qualify for the state's primary ballot.
    (SFC, 9/20/19, p.A1)

2019        Sep 25, A federal judge put Manhattan prosecutors' request for eight years of President Donald Trump's tax returns on hold until at least the next day, ordering the prosecutors and Trump's lawyers to try to negotiate a temporary agreement on how to handle the request.
    (Reuters, 9/25/19)

2019        Sep 27, The French government said it has pledged to cut taxes for households next year to the tune of 9 billion euros ($9.8 billion), a spending boost that has its roots in the yellow vest movement that broke out last winter.
    (AP, 9/27/19)

2019        Oct 7, US District Court Judge Victor Marrero ordered President Donald Trump to turn over eight years of his tax returns to New York state prosecutors.
    (Reuters, 10/7/19)

2019        Oct 9, The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its first set official ruling and its first guidance of any kind since 1914 on cryptocurrency taxes.
    (SFC, 10/10/19, p.D1)

2019        Nov 4, A US appeals court ruled that Pres. Donald Trump's longtime accounting firm must hand over eight years of his tax returns to New York prosecutors. The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena while Trump petitions the Supreme Court.
    (Reuters, 11/4/19)

2019        Nov 18, The Czech government approved a 7% digital tax proposal aimed at boosting state coffers by taxing advertising by global internet giants like Google and Facebook. The proposed tax must still make it past lawmakers in parliament.
    (Reuters, 11/18/19)

2019        Dec 3, A US appeals court handed President Donald Trump another defeat in his bid to keep his financial records secret, directing Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp to comply with subpoenas from congressional Democrats demanding the material.
    (Reuters, 12/3/19)

2020        Jan 22, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said France and the United States have brokered a truce in their bilateral row over digital taxation but still have to hammer out how talks for a global deal should proceed.
    (Reuters, 1/22/20)

2020        Feb 18, A study by the Tax Justice Network said British overseas territory the Cayman Islands, the United States and Switzerland do most to help the globe's richest citizens hide and launder money.
    (Reuters, 2/18/20)

2020        Mar 18, The US federal government gave taxpayers an extra 90 days to pay their federal taxes and announced that it won't pursue foreclosures of evictions on government guaranteed mortgages for at least 60 days.
    (SFC, 3/19/20, p.C1)

2020        Mar 20, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US government is moving its tax filing day from April 15 to July 15, amid the coronavirus crisis afflicting the country.
    (Reuters, 3/20/20)

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