“Taxes and taxation are often received with mixed emotions. Historically, taxes have been met with rebellion and unrest, patriotism, war, and voluntary compliance. French tax collectors were even sent to the guillotine in 1789! As we get ready to ‘render unto Caesar’ once more, we wanted to look at some of the interesting quirks of taxes throughout the years. How many of these did you know?
1. Who said, “but in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death & taxes”?
2. How much does it cost US taxpayers for each $100 collected by the IRS?
3. E-filing can dramatically reduce errors. The error rate for a paper return is 21 percent, compared with an efile return error rate of ____?
4. What service was first taxed in 1898 to raise money for the Spanish-American War and continues to be taxed today?
5. In 1944, Congress raised the top income tax rate to what percentage?
6. The federal Tax Code was 400 pages upon its inception in 1913. How many pages does it span today?
7. In New Mexico, you are exempt from filing and paying income taxes when you turn how old? 8. In the South, some citizens once had to pay a poll tax in order to vote. Often, African Americans and those with low incomes could not afford to pay the tax and were therefore denied the right to vote. What Amendment, ratified in 1964, declared the poll tax requirement unconstitutional?
9. Who was one of America’s most notorious mobsters who went to prison for tax evasion, not murder.
10. The IRS, a branch of the Department of Treasury, deals directly with more Americans than any other institution, public or private. It also is one of the world's most efficient tax agencies. In 2023, the IRS collected more than $4.9 trillion in revenue, processed over 262.8 million tax returns, almost 93% of which were filed electronically. How much did the IRS refund to taxpayers in 2023?
BONUS! Because of an incorrectly worded exemption, what has been exempt from New York property taxes since 1982 as long as the Knicks and Rangers keep playing their home games there?
ANSWERS (NO PEEKING!)
1. Benjamin Franklin
2. According to IRS.gov, in 2020 expenses were 31cents per $100 collected.
3. E-filing errors are just 5% according to the IRS
4. Telephone service - In 2001 alone, the telephone tax raised almost $6 billion, according to the IRS. Long distance and toll free calls are no longer taxed but local calls are. Congress is currently evaluating the Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2024.
5. 94%. For tax year 2024, the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $609,350 ($731,200 for married couples filing jointly). The lowest rate is 10% for incomes of single individuals with incomes of $11,600 or less ($23,200 for married couples filing jointly).
6. According to Bench.co the federal tax code is incredibly complex—so complex that it covers 6,871 pages. If you add in the U.S. tax regulations, which are the U.S. Treasury’s official interpretation of the tax code, it’s up to 75,000 pages
7. 100 years old
8. 24th Amendment. The official text is written as such: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.”
9. Al Capone. He was in prison for 11 years.
10. $641.7 Billion
BONUS: Madison Square Gardens