Past is Prologue: Talking Taxes

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NPR

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 16.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Big news from the IRS overnight.
0:04.1	And now it's in a change that will lower the tax bill for many Americans.
0:07.7	And it's all because of inflation.
0:09.9	It's your curious.
0:10.9	California has the highest income tax of any state.
0:14.2	At 13.3 percent, places where people are going like Nevada and Texas have no income tax.
0:20.7	Your refot, it may be smaller for the 2022 tax return season than the tax.
0:25.0	I'm afraid to pop you up, I believe more Americans are paying federal income tax this
0:28.3	year.
0:29.3	Top 25 richest people, including Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.
0:34.2	Pay little to nothing at all.
0:36.4	You're listening to Thru Line from NPR.
0:38.8	What we go back in time.
0:40.6	To understand the present.
0:46.5	Benjamin Franklin, one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, once said that there
0:51.2	are two certainties in life.
0:54.0	Death and taxes.
0:56.3	It's the ritual most of us can't avoid.
0:59.2	Gathering receipts, filling out forms, deciphering confusing codes that leave you pulling out
1:04.4	your hair.
1:06.0	Completing your taxes is the worst.
1:08.8	Taxes come in a few different forms.
	...

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