how did the government function before the income tax?

Question

even when the robber barons made millions upon millions of dollars, there were no income taxes. government functioned then, and since washington was the president, without the influx of the worker's tax dollars. then legislation was passed legalizing federal income taxes. taxes are so high, if you were to add up every single penny you spend for every single tax you would find that they equal about 60% of every dollar you spend!

so, i want to know how were government officials paid for their services before the income tax?

how were military campaigns, wars and weapons paid for before the income tax?

how were washington, dc monuments and buildings built before the income tax?

how were national parks run without the income tax?

do you think that a law should be passed that says that our "representatives" should work as volunteers, or at least, that they can't give themselves raises & now pay social security taxes?

are our reps worth our money? why?

Answer 1

A minimal federal government functioned on trade duties and tariffs before the civil war. During the Civil War the first income tax was started, some legal wrangling occured over the next 50 years but it was permanently codified in 1913.

The fact of the matter is, we don't need a whole lot of governemnt services. We just need national defense, road and judicial system - THATS IT. No state-sponsored education, no health and human services, no veterans affairs people, no government funded research, no welfare, no social security, no EPA, no sec of interior (anyone sure what they actually do anyway?), no AMTRAK, no subsidies, no postal service.

Theres a lot that can be provided by the free market.

Answer 2

The congress has always had the right to collect income tax, it is in the constitution. The first federal statute imposing the legal obligation to pay a federal income tax was adopted by Congress in 1862, to pay for the Civil War. The Constitution specified that Congress may only impose a "direct" tax if it apportions that tax among the states according to each state's census population. The 16th Amendment did not make income tax legal, it was already legal, it just made it possible to apportion the tax differently.

When Washington was President, there were only 2.4 million people in the US, Now twice that many people are born in the US every year. We cannot run huge government on tiny government budgets. Real tax rates after deductions and tax shelters run from 0% to 15% for the rich and about 22% for the middle class.

If Government officials got no pay as you say, then the average citizen would be prohibited from running for office, only the rich could be elected.

Without reps there would not be a government and without a government there would be no country, without a country we would have 150 million immigrants coming in per year instead of 2 million, so yeah they are worth it.

Answer 3

The income tax did not start untill the civil war days to pay for the civil war. There was othertaxes in place. Yes all congreemen get paid way too much. They also have too many benifits. They have the best health care. That is one reason they are not too worried about getting healthcare for everyone. They get paid whether they show up to work or vote or not. They can do whatever they are on salary. Any average taxpayer would get fired. They should have to clock in. If they are not in Congress voting or actually doing work they should not get paid. There was no insurance during Lincolns day. There was no medicare. The land for the Arlington National Cemetary was confiscated land taken from Robert E. Lee's inlaws family. Some of the work on the Wasgington Monument was done by Free masons. they left there markings there. Congress should not get paid 10 times over the average american. They are not worth it!

Answer 4

tariffs and taxes from trade and fees, income tax added to fund a war not sure which, never got changed. when first enacted many senators forcast that the percentage of tax would grow and that it was a bad precedent. Believe it started at 1-3 percent!

one thing about government is that it grows until the burden on the population is so great that the population revolts. One of the reasons that we are a welfare state is to help keep the masses from revolting. Much like the days of the roman empire when the senate would give free grain and cheese to the masses and put on games for the masses to keep them occupied.

back in the founding fathers days, government service was that a service not a career. Some money may have been paid but it was not really much.
wars were often paid by government loans from other creditors
charity often funded the original money for things like parks, museums etc.

Government should be a service, not a career, by going back to service, you would attract the people that really care and are committed to their values, when one has to sacrifice something, for your beliefs generally those beliefs are much more embedded than if you sacrificed nothing

Answer 5

I believe the answer to your question is before the income tax they ran the country on tarriffs against good going in and out of the country. The reason why they were able to do this was because at that point things were being run under the constitution, and we had small government. The income tax wasn't started until the War between the States.

Answer 6

Our Reps are wanting too much of our money. Should we have a Boston Tea Party? Many of our founding fathers were paid by buying freedom. So far we can still vote and voice unrepresented taxation to our government.

Answer 7

Minimally!! As is best.

I wish I could have seen it. The real question is, how Americans functioned with virtually no government. (Hint: over 89% were self employed)

Answer 8

I guess thats why they had dirt roads back then, and why they had to walk to a little worn down building they called school- with NO shoes on for so long!!!

Answer 9

By stealing off the Indians.

Answer 10

It was called tariffs- when people knocked door to door to collect.