A U.S. Tax Timeline...

1913 - The 16th Amendment authorizes income taxes. Congress taxes income over $3,000.

1918 - During World War I, Congress institutes progressive tax rates with a top bracket of 77%.

1919 - Prohibition begins. The commissioner of Internal Revenue must enforce it.

1931 - Gangster and bootlegger Al Capone is convicted of tax evasion.

1933 - Prohibition is repealed.

1942 - The Revenue Act raises tax rates but allows deductions for medical and investment expenses. President Franklin D. Roosevelt says, "In time of this grave national danger, when all excess income should go to win the war, no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year."

1943 - Payroll withholding is introduced.

1944 - Congress creates the standard deduction.

1954 - April 15 replaces March 15 as the deadline for filing income taxes.

1974 - The Employee Retirement and Income Security Act gives the IRS regulatory responsibility for employee benefit plans.

1981 - Congress enacts a $750 billion tax cut, the largest in U.S. history. 401(k)s are introduced. IRAs become widely available to Americans.

1982 - Deficits soar and tax cuts are repealed.

1984 - Deficits still soar and more tax cuts are repealed.

1988 - George H.W. Bush says, "Read my lips; no new taxes."

1990 - Taxes rise for the wealthy. Observers later suggest that this hike will cost George H.W. Bush the 1992 election.

1993 - President Bill Clinton signs into law a $496 billion tax hike.

1997 - President Bill Clinton cuts capital-gains rates and introduces the $500 child credit.

2001 - President George W. Bush cuts taxes and the IRS mails outs "advance refunds."

2003 - A 10-year $350 billion tax cut temporarily reduces dividend, gain and estate taxes.