Taxes: 25 Fun Facts

Now that tax season has officially begun, we thought it would be fun to start out the season with some fun tax facts. Enjoy!

  1. Did you know that in the U.K, everyone under the age of 75 years old must pay a tv license fee?
  2. Got a beard? During Peter the Great’s time…He taxed men for having beards.
  3. Costs for relocating your pet can be written off if you’re relocating for job reasons.
  4. In the middle ages, soap was highly taxed…so we can only imagine what the average Joe smelled like…
  5. In 2010, General Electric made over $4 billion in U.S. profits. It paid $0 in taxes.
  6. Drug dealers beware…. If the income from illegal drugs is not included in your taxes on Form 1040, line 21 or on schedule C-EZ 1040; jail time will be extended longer for tax evasion.
  7. In Maryland, each time you flush the toilet…you’re paying taxes on it. The average person pays $60 per year.
  8. Texas has a “pole tax” which is a tax on strip clubs, peep shows, and nude dancing. The revenue from the tax goes to sexual assault victims and health insurance for the poor.
  9. Did you know that in Texas…Belt buckles are taxed an additional 6.25 percent???
  10. I guess because we get hit with the belt buckle tax, they have to cut us some slack somewhere. In Texas cowboy boots are exempt from sales tax. Hiking books are not.
  11. The U.S. Civil War was not about slavery but mainly about taxation.
  12. WWII led to the creation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which later became the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS is the world’s largest accounting and tax-collection organization.
  13. Approximately 90% of people who employ housekeepers and babysitters cheat on their taxes.
  14. If someone reports their company for tax evasion in the U.S., he or she will receive 30% of the amount collected.
  15. The federal tax code was 400 pages in 1913. In 2010 it was 70,000 pages. You can only imagine how long it is now after the recent tax bill…
  16. There is no known civilization that did not tax. Even the very first known civilization, the Sumerians, recorded their tax history on clay cones.
  17. Roman emperor Vespasian placed a tax on urine in the 1st century A.D. Urine at that time was collected and used as a source of ammonia for tanning hides and laundering garments.
  18. The most famous protest of taxation by the American colonies was the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act and other oppressive tax measures. They argued there should be no “taxation without representation.”
  19. Everyone who earns a paycheck pays a federal income tax. Forty-three of the 50 states charge their citizens an income tax. The seven states that do not have a state income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
  20. In 1691, England taxed the number of windows on a house. Consequently, houses began to be built with very few windows or people would close up existing windows. When people began to suffer health problems from lack of windows/air, the tax was finally repealed in 1851.
  21. When Americans started paying annual federal income tax in 1913, they would save money in anticipation of paying a lump sum to the federal government. It wasn’t until WWII, when the government needed a more consistent stream of income to fund the war, that taxes started being withheld from paychecks.
  22. Albert Einstein once said: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” In case you are curious… There are more than 480 tax forms on the IRS website.
  23. In 2011, the IRS collected over $2.4 trillion from around 234 million tax returns (which included corporate, individual, and employment income tax returns). The IRS also provided approximately $416 billion in refunds.
  24. Cortez was able to defeat Montezuma largely because he incited a tax revolt among the peasants.
  25. If you want to save more money on your taxes, call Molen & Associates at 281-440-6279.

Carrolina Kizzee
Director of First Impressions (Receptionist)

7 Crazy Taxes from the U.S. and Abroad.” TurboTax. 2012. Accessed: March 22, 2013.

Adams, Charles. For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization. New York, NY: Madison Books, 1993.

La Bella, Laura. How Taxation Works. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2011.

Strange & Unusual Taxes throughout history from around the World.” eFile. Accessed March 22, 2013.

The Joy of Tax.” The Economist. April 8, 2010. Accessed: March 22, 2013.

Unusual Tax Breaks, Tax Deductions, and Tax Exemptions.” eFile. Accessed March 22, 2013. Accessed: March 22, 2013.

The Molen & Associates Difference

Mike Forsyth

“Super helpful and timely. This is our first year with them and we look forward to trusting them with our taxes and business books for years to come.”

Caitlin Daulong

“Molen & Associates is amazing! They run an incredibly streamlined process, which makes filing taxes a breeze. So impressed with their attention to detail, organization, and swift execution every year. Cannot recommend them enough!”

Sy Sahrai

“I’ve been with Mr. Molen’s company for few years and I felt treated like family respect and dignity. They are caring, professional and honest, which hard to find these days. Love working with them.”

Should I Open an HSA?

Should I Open An HSA Account? Are you considering a Health Savings Account (HSA)? If so, it is vital to understand what exactly an HSA entails. With this guide, you'll learn all about it: the advantages of an HSA and how it can help you manage your medical expenses....

Personal Finance Tips for Young Adults

As someone who has been working for most of their life, I wish there was someone out there who had shown me the correct way to save money for my future. Now that I am in my 30s, I have been getting better at saving money, but there are some personal finance tips that...

How to Track Expenses

There are many different methodologies, tools, tips, and tricks for tracking expenses, and it ultimately depends on your lifestyle and how actively and accurately you want to track them. This is information I’ve pulled from other sources and compiled into a few...

How To Accurately Record Commuting Mileage and Increase Tax Deductions

Increase Tax Deductions With the Business-Mileage Rule Using the Business Mileage tax deduction can be tricky. There are lots of situations that count while others do not. We don’t like commuting mileage. You should dislike it, too. It’s personal. It’s not deductible....

Bookkeeping 101

As a new business owner, you will certainly have some responsibilities you won’t be able to avoid. One of those non-negotiable part of your business is producing financial statements. It can be overwhelming trying to master a topic such as bookkeeping but don’t worry...

Bankruptcy – Everything You Need to Know

Everything you need to know Filing for bankruptcy protection is considered a statement on your ability to repay your debt to your creditors. Filing for bankruptcy will also put a halt to foreclosure or legal actions against you, and it stops creditors from calling and...

Top Tax Tips for 2023

Tax Refunds May Be Smaller This Year Plan now to learn these 2023 tax tips avoid surprises in the future! If you’re expecting a tax refund in 2023, it may be smaller than last year, according to the IRS. Your annual balance is based on taxable income, calculated by...

What is an EA?

Have you ever seen the title EA next to a tax professional’s name and wonder what it means? Or maybe you’re familiar with the title and you’re curious about the differences between an EA and CPA? Either way, in this blog I will be answering these frequently asked...

History of Federal Income Tax Rates: 1913 – 2021

The United States federal government levies taxes on the income of its citizens and legal residents. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the agency responsible for collecting these taxes.  Federal income tax rates have changed several times since 1913, when the...

Familiarize Yourself With Tax Terminology

Yes, I know, tax terminology feels like a whole new language. For most people all of tax forms can be even more confusing than a foreign language. What’s the difference between itemized deduction and standard deduction? What’s Income tax?  These words and more tax...

Request an Appointment Today

7 + 13 =

Call us at

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This