“As recently as a little less than 100 years ago, the money I earned would have been mine and only taxed on certain expenditures (excises on alcohol, etc.). The income tax wasn’t permanently imposed until 1913 (two earlier versions ran from 1862 to 1872, and then in 1894-95). Even when it was imposed, it started at a whopping 1% on income in excess of $3,000 ($64,371.21 in 2008 dollars) and topped out at 7% on income in excess of $500,000 ($10.7 million in 2008 dollars). Most Americans didn’t pay income tax for decades after that, and it wasn’t until WWII that the government started grabbing it from your paycheck in advance.” (01/07/09)