I have a question. It appears that the Lincoln administration was the first to propose an income tax to help pay for the war. Is there a correlation between this and April 15th being "tax day", or just poetry in my mind?

The funeral train utilized one of Pullman's luxury cars. The cars had not been bought because they were wider than the common rail car. The stations had to modify their platforms so the train could pass. Bringing Lincoln from DC to Illinois was a good enough reason to make the needed modifications on the route. My question is why the government would purchase a rail car that would not fit at most train depots for his private rail car -- Air Force One?

Rick Brown
HistoryBuff.com
A Nonprofit Organization

(10-11-2014 12:40 PM)historybuff22 Wrote:  I have a question. It appears that the Lincoln administration was the first to propose an income tax to help pay for the war. Is there a correlation between this and April 15th being "tax day", or just poetry in my mind?

The funeral train utilized one of Pullman's luxury cars. The cars had not been bought because they were wider than the common rail car. The stations had to modify their platforms so the train could pass. Bringing Lincoln from DC to Illinois was a good enough reason to make the needed modifications on the route. My question is why the government would purchase a rail car that would not fit at most train depots for his private rail car -- Air Force One?

Rick Brown
HistoryBuff.com
A Nonprofit Organization

I believe that there is no historical tie between April 15 and "Tax day". I can remember when "Tax Day" was March 15. As I recall the change was made to give Companies more time to prepare and deliver deductible information to tax payers. Why the 15th? Who knows?

John, I suspect that your answer is correct. However, remember the Roman Ides days that came every month, I believe, when you rendered unto Caesar... Someone correct me, but weren't the Ides always a few days before, on, or after the 15th of the month? Remember the Booth family's strong ties to Shakespeare and to Caesar. I have heard Mike Kauffman suggest the symbolism of JWB using the opportunity to "render unto Caesar" what he thought Caesar was due as close to the Ides as possible. Weren't the Ides on April 13 in 1865?

And didn't the tax end sometime afterward? Then resumed under Woodrow Wilson?

On August 5, 1861, as the war raged between North and South, Lincoln signed the Revenue Act into law. Intended to help finance the war, the act imposed a 3% tax on individuals with annual incomes over $800.

Lincoln's tax was repealed in 1871, but taxes weren't dead yet. Congress passed the 16th Amendment in 1909,(the enactment date was 1913), setting in place the basis for the federal tax system that exists today.

The enactment date, allowing the Federal Government to collect income tax, was February 3, 1913, with deadlines on March 1st. The Revenue Act of 1918 moved the date forward to March 15th. And in 1955 some tax-code revisions pushed the date a month further, to April 15th.

Hope some of this is has been helpful.