The Internal Revenue Service: The Origin Story [No. 86]

When and why did Congress create the Internal Revenue Service?

Professor Kristin Hickman gives a brief history of the origins of the IRS, dating back to the Civil War. New internal taxes were required to fund the war and a bureaucracy was created to administer them. Professor Hickman explains that the power of the IRS grew gradually over time, mirroring the growth of other federal agencies in the mid to late twentieth century.

Professor Kristin E. Hickman is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School.

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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