Initially touted as an act to lower tariffs, the longer term significance was the manner in which the act attempted to offset the loss of tariff revenue–namely by creating the federal income tax on individuals. Consumers were provided with competitively priced products, and manufacturers were encouraged to be more efficient in their production processes.
Also known as the Revenue Act of 1913, the Underwood Tariff Act was called for by President Woodrow Wilson in a special session of Congress in April, 1913. Wilson’s call for a reduction in tariffs marked the first time that a president had spoken to a joint session of Congress in more than one hundred years. As a result, there was heavy media coverage of Wilson’s move to lower the average citizen’s cost of living. Congressman Oscar
To compensate for the lost revenue, the act created a federal
Also included in the act was a provision to allow the establishment of an independent study commission to provide the president and Congress with advice on the proper rates for tariffs. The Federal Tariff Commission was created in 1916 to collect expert information on the fiscal and industrial effects of customs duties. The commission still exists in the twenty-first century under the name of the International Trade Commission.
Personal income tax
Tariff of Abominations
Tariffs
Taxation