Legal history of income tax in the United States Legal history of income tax in the United States Taxation of income in the United States has been practised since colonial times. Some southern states imposed their own taxes on income from property, both before and after Independence. The Constitution empowered the federal government to raise taxes at a uniform rate throughout the nation, and required that "direct taxes" be imposed only in proportion to the Census population of each state. Federal income tax was first introduced under the Revenue Act of 1861 to help pay for the Civil War. It was renewed in later years and reformed in 1894
IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is an initiative sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service. Founded in 1971 by Gary Iskowitz at California State University, Northridge. Since the 1970s the program has blossomed to several thousand sites nationwide partnering with non-profit organizations, city governments, and major public universities to file millions of returns every year. In Tax Year 2015 3.7 million returns were filed with a 94% accuracy rate according to Frank Nolden, Director of Stakeholder Partnerships, Education, and Communication/SPEC. The program is intended to service low to moderate-income tax payers, which the