Funding Government Without An Income Tax

    Before the advent of the Income Tax, the United States government was funded by a series of taxes under the heading of ad valorem taxes Overview of Ad Valorem Taxes .  Ad valorem means "to value" in Latin and ad valorm taxes are taxes based on the value of various business transactions.  At the local government level, ad valorem taxes are also sometimes levied on ownership of certain types of personal property, like land, buildings or vehicles.  At the federal level, the United States did not tax property, only the value of imports and transactions of certain products. like alcohol and tobacco.  The ad valorem tax is still used in the United States.  They fund public education, police and fire departments in many local areas and make up a good portion of current federal government revenues.  

Why are ad valorem taxes more desirable?  Ad valorem taxes were much more voluntary.  There is no requirement that a person or business import goods from other countries, or sell alcohol or tobacco, to survive.  In the modern world, people need some form of income to survive.  Taxing income in the 21st Century is like taxing breathing or eating.  Ad valorem taxes also can be designed to match the tax to the government service more closely.  An example of this was when highways were funded with taxes on gasoline and vehicles.  More gasoline and vehicles purchased meant both more need to build highways and more revenue to build highways.  Not only is taxing somebody who walks everywhere to build a highway they will never use unjust, it leads to decisions like the famous "Bridge to Nowhere Scandal."   

The time is now to transition the United States back to its roots.  For 170 years, ad valorem, not income taxes, were the primary funding mechanism for the federal government.  It should be so again.