Monday is April 15th, the day our income taxes are due. I certainly understand this isn’t everyone’s favorite day of the year. But we do what we gotta do!

Anyway, tax day has an interesting history.

In 1894, Congress passed a national income tax, which was ruled unconstitutional the following year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Following that decision, Congress proposed, and the required number of states ratified (in 1913), the 16th amendment to the Constitution, which made income tax legal.

The first tax day was on March 1st. It was later moved to March 15th in 1918. Then, in 1955, the deadline was pushed back to April 15th, so the Internal Revenue Service could spread out the work involved with processing all the forms, according to constitutioncenter.org.

The very first tax form was four pages long, including instructions, according to constitutioncenter.org. At the time, the average annual income was $800.

Meanwhile, the highest ever tax rate was during World War II, when the highest tax bracket was taxed at 91% and the lowest tax bracket was 23%.

Here are some other taxing things to think about (from wallethub.com):

  • $1.76 trillion – Estimated revenue from individual income taxes in 2019 ($1.68 trillion in 2018)
  • 150M+  – Individual income tax returns are expected to be filed in 2019
  • 90% of returns this year are expected to be filed electronically
  • $2,957 – The average tax refund as of March 15, 2019
  • 91% of refunds are paid through direct deposit
  • 8.1 billion hours – Estimated total time that Americans spend preparing tax returns each year
  • 11 hours – Estimated time spent filing a tax return
  • 49% of taxpayers prepared and e-filed their own tax returns in 2019

Speaking of taxes, here’s a sales tax scanning tip …
When asked about the total amount spent when recording your shopping trip, please include the sales tax for all items purchased, even the ones that you might not have been able to scan.

If you have any questions about recording coupons and sales, please see our FAQ:

http://www.ncponline.com/wbcnt/Members/deals.pdf

Have a great weekend!

Best Regards,
Taylor

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