This Day in History: Today is Tax Day. Well not this year, but normally it would be tax day, and this had been so since 1955. Before that it was a month earlier, and prior to 1913 there was no income tax at all. Tax Withholding started during World War II, thanks to Mr Libertarian himself Milton Friedman. The income tax may be the most hated, but other taxes can certainly be classified as stupid. 200 years ago men wore wigs. The government then imposed a tax on wigs and men stopped wearing wigs. Hats were taxed around the same time, so sellers attempted to dodge the tax by rebranding hats as “headgear.” 300 years ago there was a window tax, from which we got the term “daylight robbery.” Many then started to brick up windows. During the gin craze in the 1700's, the government imposed a tax on gin sellers, which then gave us the world’s first vending machine. "A customer approached the device and said, 'Puss!' An unlicensed vendor, hiding inside, responded, 'Mew!' Out popped a drawer into which the customer placed payment. The drawer snapped back, then out again with a dram of gin." ~Susan Adams
Oh, and many tax-exempt charities are a scam. For instance, Lady Gaga’s
Born This Way Foundation raised $2.6 million in 2012, but only gave away $5,000 for grants to organizations or individuals.
Dickens Knew Taxes Started the French Revolution
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/06/dickens-knew-taxes-started-french.html
How They Viewed an Income Tax Over 100 Years Ago
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-they-viewed-income-tax-over-100.html
See also The History & Mystery of Money & Economics-250 Books on DVDrom
Visit my Econ blog at http://fredericbastiat1850.blogspot.com/
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