Is this an accurate list of 25 taxes that didn't exist 60 years ago? No, that's not true: The list includes taxes that have been around since long before 1962. For example, federal taxes on tobacco and alcohol date as far back as the 18th century, as do property taxes. Other taxes, like the Social Security tax and sales tax, are relatively more recent but have still been around for more than 60 years.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post published on August 10, 2022. In part, the post read:
We are charged:路 Stamp Duty路 Tobacco Tax路 Corporate Income Tax路 Income Tax路 Council Tax路 Unemployment Tax路 Fishing License Tax路 Petrol/Diesel Tax路 Inheritance Tax (tax on top of tax)路 Alcohol Tax路 G.S.T.路 Property Tax路 Purchase Property Tax路 Tax on Title Searches路 Tax on Building Inspections路 Tax on supplements路 Taxes on various food items路 Taxes on Dining out路 Tax on all utilities - Phone, hydro, water, waste disposal路 Service charge taxes路 Social Security Tax路 Vehicle License / Registration Tax路 Vehicle Sales Tax路 Workers Compensation Tax路 And now Carbon TaxAND I'm sure you can think of more......STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?Not one of these taxes existed 60 years ago, and our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Aug 12 15:27:28 2022 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy nonprofit, to ask about the post's claim. Adam Hoffer, Director of Excise Tax Policy, responded in an email, dated August 12, 2022. He wrote:
My summary comment on that post is that the sentiment underlying the post - that Americans are much more heavily taxed now than in the past - is correct, but the post is riddled with factual errors.
He went on to give specific examples. For instance, the federal government has taxed tobacco since the 18th century. States didn't start taxing cigarettes until the early 20th century, as can be seen here, but most still did so well before 60 years ago. Similarly, alcohol taxes date back to the 18th century, when Congress imposed a so-called whiskey tax to help pay down debts accumulated during the Revolutionary War.
Other examples of taxes wrongly included in the list are the property tax, the income tax, and the Social Security tax. The Social Security Act was signed in 1935 and taxes were collected for the first time in 1937; the modern version of the federal income tax was ratified in 1913; and, according to The Atlantic, the federal government levied a national property tax as early as 1798, and then again in 1814, 1815, 1816 and 1861.
