Tax Day facts and trivia to share with your kids

Tax Day is many things: frustrating, irritating, scary, and mandatory are just a few examples. It's also a great day to teach your kids some facts about our country and government. So in between scrambling for your IRS forms and calling your accountant, take a few minutes to fill your kiddo in on some of the history and trivia behind Tax Day.

* Tax Day is on April 15 each year because it allows the IRS more time to handle the work and also gives the government more time to offer taxpayers' refunds. This day was decided upon in 1955 after several changes over the years. It only changes if Tax Day falls on a weekend or holiday, and then Tax Day will be on the following business day.

* The Articles of Confederation in 1781 relied on states to donate money as opposed to having taxes. Needless to say, that didn't work.

* The Sixteenth Amendment is responsible for allowing the government to tax personal income, which in turn helps the government run our country.

* 1862 was when the country's first income tax law came to be. Thanks to the Civil War, and its gigantic expense, a person earning between $600 to $10,000 paid a yearly tax rate of 3%; those that made more were taxed higher.

* The Commissioner of Internal Revenue was formed in 1862 to assess and collect taxes as well as enforce tax laws by seizing property and income and using prosecution as punishment. In 1953, the Bureau of Interal Revenue became the Internal Revenue Service, or as we call it, the IRS.

* In 1894, President Cleveland tried to implement yearly taxes. The Supreme Court denied this and claimed it was unconstitutional.

* Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, though it was completely unrelated to taxes.

* There are over 7 million words in tax law and regulations. That beats the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the Gettysburg Address combined.

* There are fewer errors when filing taxes online. Paper returns have errors 21% of the time.

* Almost 300,000 trees are cut down each year to make the paper for all the forms and instructions relating to taxes.

* Many US Post Office branches extend their hours until midnight on April 15 to accommodate the millions of Americans that mail off their taxes at the last minute. Yes, they get paid overtime - and yes, it's taxed.

* Tax Freedom Day is the one day that the country as a whole has earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden. This year's Tax Freedom day falls on April 13. If you're interested in finding out when Tax Freedom Day is in your state and how many days it takes to pay taxes, check here.

* Divorce filings usually begin to peak on and around April 16, since spouses then have access to a lot of financial information (you probably don't need to share that with the kids, but it's kind of interesting, isn't it?). source>>>

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