Hello to you fellow treasure hunter and thank you for joining this exploration. We must first warn you! the search you are about to join may be dangerous at times, you may get a "paper cut" while browsing the endless number of pages of the tax code and you could dehydrate yourself while seating hours at your computer looking for clues... so be brave, fellow hunter, be prepared, stay committed and you shall find...

Before we start the journey, a few words about the treasure we are looking for. Good day.

This search goes way back, to 1862

Introduction
"The Internal Revenue Code (or IRC; more formally, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended) is the main body of domestic statutory tax law of the United States organized topically, including laws covering the income tax, payroll taxes, gift taxes, estate taxes and statutory excise taxes. The Internal Revenue Code is published as Title 26 of the United States Code (USC), and is also known as the internal revenue title." posted by : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
The beginning
The roots of IRS go back to the Civil War when President Lincoln and Congress, in 1862, created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses. The income tax was repealed 10 years later. Congress revived the income tax in 1894, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year.

16th Amendment
In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16^th Amendment, providing the three-quarter majority of states necessary to amend the Constitution. The 16^th Amendment gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, the first Form 1040 appeared after Congress levied a 1 percent tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6 percent surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.

World Wars
In 1918, during World War I, the top rate of the income tax rose to 77 percent to help finance the war effort. It dropped sharply in the post-war years, down to 24 percent in 1929, and rose again during the Depression. During World War II, Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments.

posted by : The Internal Revenue Service

The Treasure is hiding in 46,000 pages

-- At the beginning of the 20th century, federal taxes accounted for less than 3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and the entire tax code and regulations filled just a few hundred pages. Today, federal taxes account for 20 percent of GDP and federal tax rules cover more than 46,000 pages.

-- The Internal Revenue Code consists of 2,840 pages and about 2.8 million words, compared with the Bible with 1,340 pages and about 800,000 words.

-- The chief source of federal tax complexity is the income tax on individuals and businesses. (Individuals and businesses had to deal with 481 separate IRS tax forms in 1999, a rise of 20 percent from 403 forms in 1990.)

The Treasure hunters are here to help you

Somewhere inside the ten of thousands of those old, wrinkled tax code pages hide dozens of small and large treasures in shape of tax deductions, credits, exemptions and other tax breaks. So, how do you find them? how do you take advantage of every little benefit that the tax code offers?

Answer - You visit TaxTreasure.com

Here you will find articles, answers, tips and clues on where to find what you're looking for.

So, Come, join us in the search for the amazing treasures hidden in the mysterious United States Tax Code. Together we shall find the golden tax breaks, deductions, credits and tax benefits that hide deep in the code since 1862. Happy treasure hunting. Arrrr!!