tax trivia

Just as there are tons of weird and interesting laws in place all over the world, there are also tons of interesting tax facts! We’ve collected a list of facts from the US and the world. Use this fun knowledge to shock a friend or impress a colleague. Historical Tax Facts Lady Godiva took her famous 11th century ride because of high taxes. She pleaded with her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to lessen the burden on his subjects. He made her a bargain: he’d lower the taxes if she rode through the town naked. And she did. Federal tax returns weren’t always due on April 15th. In 1913, it was March 1st, and in 1918 it moved to March 15. The April 15th due date was adopted in 1954. Employers have only been withholding income taxes from employees’ paychecks since the Current tax Payment Act of 1943. Albert Einstein once said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” Madison Square Garden, the New York entertainment venue, has not had to pay property taxes since 1982. In 1696, a window tax was introduced in England and Wales. It was assessed as a flat property tax plus a tax based on the number of windows a home had. As a result, some people bricked up their windows. In the 1800s, single men in Missouri had to pay a “bachelor tax” of $1 annually – equivalent to $20 today. Tax Facts about Food Maine has a special tax on blueberries. It reads: “There is levied and imposed a tax at the rate of 1 1/2 cents per pound on all wild blueberries processed in the State and on all unprocessed wild blueberries shipped to a destination outside the State.” Maine produces about 99% of the United States’ wild blueberries. Illinois, Colorado, and Washington all have a candy tax, but their definition of candy is specifically described as having an absence of flour. This means gummy bears are taxed as candy, while Kit Kats and Whoppers are not. For more, check out this article about the candy tax from NPR. In New York City, bagels are …

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