This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English EconomicsReport.

April fifteenth is a special date for Americans. But it is noholiday. It is tax day. It is the last day to pay any federal taxesowed on earnings from the year before.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to establish federaltaxes. State and local governments can also tax. But the idea ofnational taxes took time to develop. Not everyone liked the idea.

In seventeen-ninety-one Congress approved a tax on whiskey andother alcoholic drink. Farmers in western Pennsylvania who producedalcohol refused to pay. They attacked officials and burned the homeof a tax collector.

America's first president, George Washington, gathered almostthirteen-thousand troops. The soldiers defeated the so-calledWhiskey Rebellion of seventeen-ninety-four. It was one of the firsttimes that the government used its powers to enforce a federal lawwithin a state.

At first the United States government collected most of its moneythrough tariffs. These are taxes on trade. In the lateeighteen-hundreds, Congress began to tax people's pay. The SupremeCourt rejected the personal income tax. But, in nineteen-thirteen,the states passed the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Thisgave Congress the right to tax income.

Today, personal income tax provides the government with more thanforty percent of its money. Taxes collected to pay for retirementprograms and other services provide thirty-five percent. Incometaxes on businesses provided seven percent of federal money intwo-thousand-two. And the government collects other taxes, includingcustoms.

The Internal Revenue Service collects federal taxes. The I.R.S.is part of the Treasury Department. Most taxpayers do not owe theagency any money on April fifteenth. Their employers have takenincome taxes from their pay all year and already given it to I.R.S.In fact, most people get some money back. But tax laws are oftencriticized as too complex.

The United States has what is called a progressive tax system.Tax rates increase as earnings increase. This year people who earnmore than three-hundred-twelve-thousand dollars are taxed atthirty-five percent. That is the highest rate. Individuals who earnless than seven thousand dollars pay no income tax, but they do payother taxes.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Bob Doughty.