Facts about taxes that make you stop and shake your head

- Alabama has a 10 cent tax on a deck of playing cards.
- “Jock tax” – Levied on athletes who earn an income competing in a particular city or state. California first levied this tax on athletes from Chicago in 1991 after the Chicago Bulls beat the LA Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. What a bunch of sore losers.
- Blueberries from Maine are subject to specific tax too, anyone who grows, purchases, sells, handles, or processes blueberries in Maine has to pay a penny and a half tax per pound.
- “Fountain soda drinks” in Chicago are taxed at 9%, if it comes in a bottle or can then it’s only taxed at 3%.
- Only about 1% of the nation's tax revenue is obtained through audits; 98% of the revenue is obtained through "voluntary" compliance from people who have not been audited.
Tax History & Facts
- The first income tax ever was in 1404 in England.
- The first property tax in the United States was in 1798 and it was on land, houses, and slaves.
- The first US income tax started during in the Civil War to help raise money back in 1862.
- The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, established the first permanent US income tax.
- Four states rejected the amendment: Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, and Utah.
- Two never considered/discussed it: Pennsylvania, Virginia
- The IRS sends out over 8 billion pages in forms and instructions every single year, that’s nearly 300,000 trees (now they use recycled paper).
- The easiest form, the 1040EZ, has thirty-three pages of instructions.