Tax!

This is coolbert:

From the previous blog entry:

"The War of 1898, victory in that war having far reaching consequences."

Here is one of those "far reaching consequences", unheralded and unappreciated, perhaps not even known about by the lay public!

The Federal Telephone Excise Tax.

A tax imposed at a time [1898] when very few American businesses or individuals owned a telephone. A tax levied each and every time a telephone connection was made. A tax levied TO PAY FOR THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 1898.

A tax still in existence today, modified, repealed and re-instated many times, originally designed to pay for a war of short duration, but a tax nonetheless going strong, over ONE HUNDRED YEARS LATER!

"In late April 1898, Congress passed a resolution declaring that a state of war had existed since April 21, 1898, between the United States and Spain. Although the Spanish-American War was short, its financing needs resulted in a federal budget deficit . . . an excise tax on telephone service was introduced for the first time in 1898"

A tax - - again, "repealed and re-instated many times", an "emergency" measure taken to pay for a war, Spanish-American, WW1, WW2, Vietnam, etc.

An "emergency" measure ONLY that seems to have a very charmed life. Obviously the usage of the telephone for business and personal purposes is just magnitudes way beyond the situation that existed in 1898. A valuable source of revenue the government just cannot get away from.

coolbert.