The filing deadline for our taxes is a week away. This brings up the question, has the US always had a federal income tax?

The United States began collecting income tax in 1862, during the Civil War, as a way to raise revenue for the war effort. The first income tax law was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, and it imposed a 3% tax on incomes over $800 (which would be equivalent to about $22,000 today). 

The income tax was initially seen as a temporary measure, but it was revived in 1894, when Congress passed a law that imposed a 2% tax on incomes over $4,000. However, the Supreme Court struck down the law in 1895, ruling that it was unconstitutional because it violated the principle of apportionment among the states.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, which granted Congress the power to levy an income tax without apportionment among the states. That year, Congress passed the first modern income tax law, which imposed a 1% tax on incomes over $3,000 (which would be equivalent to about $80,000 today) and a 6% tax on incomes over $500,000 (which would be equivalent to over $13 million today). The income tax has been a major source of revenue for the federal government ever since.