Income tax celebrates birthday

The federal income tax celebrated it’s 87th birthday yesterday. The dreaded annual chore was first launched on Americans February 3rd, 1913. University of Northern Iowa accounting professor Dennis Schmidt says in its early days, the federal income tax was no big deal with a very low rate.While many Iowans think they’re being battered by taxes now, Schmidt says this isn’t that bad compared to a couple of decades ago.Schmidt says alternatives to the federal income tax may sound tempting, but they have problems too. There’s the “VAT” tax, or Value-Added Tax, used in many European nations.He says the VAT has proven to be very complicated and just as “hairy” as the income tax. The professor maintains an accounting and taxes website at: www.taxsites.com