Colorado Tax Assessment List 1862-1866

              TERRITORY OF COLORADO TAX ASSESSMENT LISTS
1862 - 1866
by
Gerald E. Sherard
(2005)
The Internal Revenue Act of July 1, 1862 was intended “to provide Internal Revenue to support the
Government and to pay Interest on the Public Debt.” This was the first income tax actually levied directly by the
Federal government on individual incomes by residents of the United States. Monthly specific and ad valorem (a
percentage of the market value) duties were placed on manufacturers, articles, and products ranging from ale to zinc.
Monthly taxes were levied on the gross receipts of transportation companies; on interest paid on bonds; on surplus
funds accumulated by financial institutions and on sales of slaughtered cattle, hogs, and sheep. Gross receipts from
newspaper advertisements were subject to a quarterly tax. Annual licenses were required for all trades and
occupations: bankers, auctioneers, wholesale and retail dealers, pawnbrokers, distillers, brewers, brokers,
tobacconists, jugglers (���Every person who performs by sleight of hand shall be regarded as a juggler under this a
confectioners, horse dealers, livery stable keepers, cattle brokers, tallow-chandlers and soap makers, coal-oil distillers
peddlers, apothecaries, photographers, lawyers, and physicians. Peddlers were classified based on the number of
horses used to pull their carts. Hotels, inns, and taverns were classified according to the annual rent or estimated ren
from a first-class establishment with a yearly rental of $10,000 to an eighth-class hotel with a yearly rental of less than
$100, and charged license fees of from $200 to $5 accordingly. Eating-houses paid $10 per year for a license, theater
$100, and circuses $50. Bowling alleys and billiard rooms paid according to the number of alleys or tables belonging
to or used in the building to be licensed (see Appendix I). Stamp duties were imposed on legal and business
documents and on medicines, playing cards, and cosmetics. Annual duties were placed on carriages, yachts, go
watches, jewelry, and gold and silver plate.
ct“),
,
t,
s
ld
uildings
nces,
600
ate;
Passed as an emergency measure to finance the union cause in the Civil War, the first income tax generated
pproxim
thorized the establishment of the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue in the Treasury
epartm tions,
to the
ho
of taxable income or items and the amount of duty or tax due.
An annual tax was also levied on all income in excess of $600, and legacies and distributive shares of
personal property were made taxable. Stamp duties were imposed on legal and business documents and on medical
preparations, playing cards, perfumery, and cosmetics. It was a “progressive” tax in that it initially levied a tax of 3
percent on annual incomes over $600 but less than $10,000 and a tax of 5 percent on any income over $10,000. In
1864 the rates increased and the ceiling dropped so that incomes between $600 and $5,000 were taxed at 5 percent,
with a 10 percent rate on the excess over $5,000. The average annual income for the year 1863 in Denver Division 3
was $1,414.
Similar to the familiar 1040 tax form, taxpayers submitted their lists of income and property on a Form 24,
entitled “Detailed Statement of Income, Gains, and Profits.” The Civil War tax form included spaces for reporting
income and listing deductions. “Proper deductions” from income derive from business or trade included rent,
insurance, freight and expressage, wages of employees, and other expenses. Rental income from lands and b
was reported separately. The only proper deduction from income derived from the rent of lands was repairs to fe
while rent from buildings could be reduced by the cost of repairs and insurance. Farm income from the sale of
livestock and produced was taxed after deductions for labor, repairs, the farmer’s livestock costs, insurance, and
interest on encumbrances. Profits from the sale of property, interest collected on debts, dividends on any stock, capital
and bank deposits, and interest on U.S. bonds or any other source were taxable. Minors with incomes exceeding $
were also liable through their guardians. There were four supplementary deductions authorized: losses on real est
interest paid, national, state and local taxes; and rent paid for a homestead. In addition, all salaries of officers or
payments to persons in service in any branch of the U.S. government were free of tax.
a ately $55 million in government revenues during the war. Paying the taxes was viewed as part of the
patriotic war effort.
The act also au
D ent to superintend the collection of taxes and duties and to prepare the regulations, instructions, direc
and forms used in assessing and collecting taxes. All persons, partnerships, firms, associations, or corporations
submitted to the assistant assessor of their division a list showing the amount of annual income, articles subject
special tax or duty, and the quantity of goods made or sold duty. The assistant assessors collected these lists and
compiled two general lists, each in alphabetical order: (1) a list of names of all persons residing in the division w
were liable for taxations and (2) a list of names of all persons residing outside the division who were owners of
property in the division; and under each
person’s name, the value, assessment, or enumeration
1