Legal News for Tues 7/1 - SCOTUS Defangs EPA, Trump's Ongoing Birthright Citizenship Debacle, Trump vs. Perkins Coie, and Data Center Tax Breaks
This Day in Legal History: Abraham Lincoln Passes First Income Tax
On July 1, 1862, amid the mounting costs of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the nation's first true federal income tax under the Tax Act of 1862. This legislation imposed a 3% tax on annual incomes over $600 and a 5% tax on incomes exceeding $10,000—significant thresholds at the time. The tax was part of a broader revenue strategy that included an expansion of excise taxes and the creation of the Internal Revenue Office, the predecessor to today’s IRS. It marked a pivotal moment in U.S. legal history…
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