"It's income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta." ~ Dave Barry
U.S. income taxes were first collected in 1863 to raise revenue for the Union government's cost during the Civil War (1861-1865).
"The power to tax is the power to live," said New York Mayor John Lindsay in 1971. "At least as far as local government is concerned."
As everyone knows, each year wage earners calculate their total income to compute gross income by subtracting exclusions such as loans and gifts...
"What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector?" Mark Twain asked. "The taxidermist takes only your skin."
Ah.
....from the gross, certain other expenses, such as moving costs, can be deducted to determine the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. Then deductions (medical bills and interest payments) and exemptions (dependents) are subtracted. What remains is the taxable income...
"The reward of energy, enterprise and thrift--is taxes," explained publisher William Feather. Or as writer Jeff Hayes put it, "Capital punishment: the income tax."
Find the humor in the situation.