Somebody can correct me, but my understanding is that through most of
the 19th century tariffs were indeed the number one source of revenue for
the federal government, with the major exception of during the Civil War
when I think an income tax may have been levied. The tariff rates were much
higher then than now and except during wars federal government outlays were
pretty small then.
Barkley Rosser
-----Original Message-----
From: DOUG ORR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, March 05, 1999 2:10 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:4162] two tax questions
>Students are always asking questions for which I don't have answers. Thus,
>I always learn something new from teaching. Two questions came up this
>past week.
>
>First, prior to the creation of the income tax, what sorts of taxes did
>the federal gov't use to raise its revenues? All I could come up with
>were excize taxes and tariffs, but this does not seem to be enough to cover
>their outlays.
>
>Second, under Prop 13 in CA, tax levies are not frozen completely. What
>determines how much the levies can rise each year?
>
>Thanks,
>Doug Orr
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
