Timelines of Taxes
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1643
The English parliament first introduced levies on
beer and meat to finance its fight against the Crown.
(Econ, 12/31/11, p.39)
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.
(Econ, 10/27/07,
p.90)(www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Bastable/bastbPF29.html)
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)
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was superseded by the Tax Act of July 14, 1862, which took effect as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established during the Civil War, was repealed.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.
(SFC, 9/13/00, p.A15)(SFC, 6/21/11, p.D5)
1894 Aug 24, Congress passed
the first graduated income tax law, which was declared
unconstitutional the next year. It imposed a 2% tax on incomes over
$4000. The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. [see Aug 27]
(WSJ, 3/11/98, p.A20)(HN, 8/24/98)
1894 Aug 27, The US Congress
passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, providing for a graduated
income tax that was down by the Supreme Court May 20, 1895. Pres.
Grover Cleveland enacted the tax to cope with the deficit.
(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)
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.”
(HN, 2/25/98)(WSJ, 3/11/98, p.A20)(AH, 4/07,
p.31)(http://tinyurl.com/yg2j694)
1913 Mar 1, The US Federal
income tax filing date took effect. It was changed to March 15 in
1918 and again to April 15 in 1955.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Day)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Recovery_Tax_Act_of_1981)(AP,
8/13/01)
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)
1986 Sep 27, The US Senate
joined House of Reps voting for "sweeping tax reforms."
(MC, 9/27/01)
1986 The US Tax Reform Act
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.
(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)
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 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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
(WSJ, 11/13/08, p.A1)
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 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://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/ap_on_re_us/us_arizona_sales_tax)
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 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)
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 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)
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