Whatever happened to the stipulation that 6 months after the end of hostilities (WW11) that with-holding taxes

Question

would no longer be collected?

What specific law kept them to be continued to be collected beyond that 6 month date?

Was our govt so used to all that money rolling in that it was "impractible" for it to stop?

How in the world did our govt operate before the days of w/h taxes?

Somewhere I read that the govt was to operate using the monies collected from excise taxes, and I guess it did for a while, long, long time ago... There certainly wasn't any w/h taxes back then.

"Phil R" :
Only corporations were obliged, originally, to pay an income tax--individuals' income tax "convienantly" came later...

Correct me if I'm wrong in this assumption.

Answer 1

Take a look at the graph. The national debt after WW2 was huge and they needed a way to pay it down. It worked for a while as the US became more productive the debt to GDP ratio steadily declined until 1980. Its been increasing since then except for a short period during the Dot.com boom.

http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

Answer 2

Sounds like you may have been listening to another anti-tax lecture.

While none of us like taxes, they are a reality, and here to stay. The only way to eliiminate taxes is through the political process, so make sure you vote for the proper candidates.

The Internal Revenue Code (which was enacted PRIOR to World War 2) never had any expiration. The law has since been changed, altered, mutiliated and re-enacted a number of times since. Its rare that a year goes by without Congress not passing some form of tax bill, which usually includes, (by reference) all of the previous tax law.

The point is, the income tax is legal. It has been legal for almost a century, and will continue to be legal absent a specific direction of Congress (signed into law by the president) to the contrary.

Answer 3

The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913, and recognized as ratified by the Supreme Court in 1916. It gives Congress the authority to levy income taxes.

Congress has passed laws (all of Title 26 of the US Code) dealing with income taxes.

Answer 4

The money came in and they got the great idea that they knew better how to spend someones paycheck. Wealth redistibution. I heard on the news tonight that the bottom 50% of tax payers pay 3% of all taxes taken in.

Answer 5

WW2 was actually funded through war bonds not federal income taxes
Federal income tax started shortly after the civil war