Federal Tax Form 1040

Brief History of IRS Origin - The roots of IRS go back to the Civil War when President Lincoln and Congress, in 1862, created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses. The income tax was repealed 10 years later. Congress revived the income tax in 1894, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year.

16th Amendment- In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment, providing the three-quarter majority of states necessary to amend the Constitution. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, the first Form 1040 appeared after Congress levied a 1 percent tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6 percent surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.

In 1918, during World War I, the top rate of the income tax rose to 77 percent to help finance the war effort. It dropped sharply in the post-war years, down to 24 percent in 1929, and rose again during the Depression. During World War II, Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments.

• 1913 Form 1040 (PDF 126KB, 4 pages, including instructions)

A New Name - In the 50s, the agency was reorganized to replace a patronage system with career, professional employees. The Bureau of Internal Revenue name was changed to the Internal Revenue Service. Only the IRS commissioner and chief counsel are selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Today’s IRS Organization - The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 prompted the most comprehensive reorganization and modernization of IRS in nearly half a century. The IRS reorganized itself to closely resemble the private sector model of organizing around customers with similar needs.

• Today's IRS Organization

Image License and disclaimer: Privacy & Security Notice The DoD Imagery Server is provided as a public service by the American Forces Information Service. (High Resolution Image).

The Defense Visual Information Directorate. Information presented on DoD Imagery Server is considered public information.

except where noted for government and military users logged into restricted areas) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

About Images on DefenseLINK, All of these files are in the public domain unless otherwise indicated.However, we request you credit the photographer, videographer as indicated or simply "Department of Defense."

Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" from the U.S. Copyright Office.