The U.S. Internal Revenue Service reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

U.S. Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the tax laws. It is a part of the United States Department of the Treasury.

For most of its first 138 years (1776-1913), the United States did not have a federal income tax. An income tax was enacted during the latter half of the 19th century, but it was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. In 1913 the United States Constitution was amended (see Sixteenth Amendment) to permit the enactment of an income tax, which was promptly accomplished and remains in effect in an increasingly complicated form. Prior to the establishment of the income tax, all government taxes were collected as excise taxes on products, import/export taxeses, and revenue taxes on items such as photographs, bank checks, stock certificates, willss, deeds, and other legal documents. It was called the internal revenue service in contrast to U.S. government institutions that collected external revenue through duties and tariffs.

See also: Taxation in the United States

Further Reading

• William V. Roth, Jr and William H. Nixon The Power to Destroy (1999, ISBN 0871137488)

External links

• 31 Q&A about the IRS and ‘This is what your fear is protecting’ dispute the IRS's legitimacy
• Tax Protester FAQ by Dan Evans rebuts claims of the illegitimacy of the income tax and the IRS
• "The Tax Man" -- on Joe Banister, fomerly IRS, who found the "kooks" so difficult to beat he joined them

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