Yeargan & Kert LLC - August 2021

THE REVENUE ACT AND THE HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX LINCOLN’S LAW

Even with the extended May deadline, we’re well past tax season, so why talk tax history now? As it turns out, it was in August way back in 1861 that the Revenue Act was passed, which imposed the first federal income tax. If you’re trying to recall your American history lessons, you may have already figured out that it was President Abraham Lincoln who signed this bill into law. A LOOK AT THE FIRST TAX The Revenue Act called for a 3% income tax on Americans making over $800 a year. That’s almost $26,000 in today’s dollars. The tax was levied primarily to fund the Civil War. While federal income tax dollars are spent in myriad ways today, defense remains a major category. About 16% of taxes collected for the 2019 tax year were spent on U.S. military and defense. CHANGES OVER TIME About a decade after the Revenue Act was passed, it was repealed. While it was possible

to coax income taxes out of Americans during wartime, there was significant opposition to taxation following the end of the Civil War. It wasn’t until the 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913 that the federal government once again got the power to tax individuals on their income and to spend the money how government officials saw fit, rather than in proportion to state populations. Since then, taxes have been used in three main ways: mandatory spending on programs like Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ benefits; discretionary spending on defense, education, transportation, and health; and finally, interest on the national debt. As the old saying goes, two things are certain: death and taxes. However begrudging Americans are about paying taxes these days, income tax has become a given.

Caution:

You Can Still Get Arrested Even if You Pass the Breathalyzer Test

called the DUI “Less Safe” rule means that, while you are driving, you have a certain percentage of alcohol present in your blood system. For most drivers, that limit is 0.08%, but for commercial drivers, that limit is 0.04%. When it comes to the drivers who are under 21 years old, the law is much stricter, and the limit is 0.02%. In order to find out whether you are under the influence of alcohol or any other substance that interferes with your driving skills, the highway patrol can do several things to determine your BAC (blood alcohol concentration). If the patrol officer suspects you are driving under the influence, the officer can check your condition by observing your car on the road, paying attention to your ability to walk and talk, paying attention to your smell, making

you take the sobriety test, and making you take the Breathalyzer test. Adding up all of these things, the patrol officer can, together with the prosecutor, charge you with a DUI, even if your breath test is under the limit. Also, the police officer may be a witness in court and testify that you were intoxicated while driving. It is a common situation when the police officers will claim the driver wasn’t able to drive, even though the test shows the opposite. So, even though the sobriety test shows the alcohol level in your blood system is under 0.08%, you should know that state law in Georgia says you can still be arrested. But that doesn’t mean you will be convicted of a DUI. If the sobriety test shows your alcohol percentage is under the legal limit, there’s a good chance a judge will dismiss the charges. Call Yeargan & Kert, and our expert team will fight to protect your future.

When you blow into a Breathalyzer and the result is below a 0.08% blood alcohol content, you might think you’re home free. However, that’s not the case. The laws in Georgia state that you can be arrested and/or fined, even if the test shows that your blood-alcohol level is below the legal limit. In the law of Atlanta, a provision

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