How American life became taxing—or at least taxed.
4/14/2003
If you have to pay taxes, you might as well learn a little about their history, right? The Tax History Project provides information to scholars, policymakers, students, the media, and ordinary Joe Taxpayer about the history of American taxation. Like IRS forms, this isn't necessarily light reading: a recent article looks at taxation during the Great Depression and war years of 1933 to 1945. But you can also view presidential tax returns ranging from George W. Bush to Franklin Roosevelt (sorry, no returns from Gerald Ford, Johnson, JFK, or Ike), visit the Tax History Museum, read how taxation was addressed by The Federalist Papers, and enjoy a library of cartoons. Nothing funnier than April 15, after all.