Income tax, in the modern sense, first appeared in the late 18th–early 19th century, with a landmark introduction in Britain in 1799 and later permanent systems in several countries in the early 1900s.

Quick Scoop: Core Dates

  • Britain (often cited as first modern income tax)
    • Introduced by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in 1799 as a temporary wartime measure to fund the Napoleonic Wars.
* Taxed incomes over £60 at low rates and was repealed in 1816 after the wars, but it set the model for later income taxes.
  • United States (federal income tax)
    • First federal income tax: 1861 , under the Revenue Act of 1861, to help fund the Civil War; it was later repealed.
* Modern, permanent federal income tax: **1913** , after the **16th Amendment** was ratified, giving Congress clear power to tax income.
  • India (under British rule)
    • First income tax law in India: 1860 , introduced after the financial strain of the 1857 uprising; it was initially for a limited period.

Mini Timeline View

  • 1799 – Britain introduces a national income tax to fund war against Napoleonic France.
  • 1860 – Income tax introduced in India by the colonial government after the 1857 revolt.
  • 1861 – First U.S. federal income tax enacted to finance the Civil War.
  • 1913 – 16th Amendment in the U.S. leads to the permanent federal income tax system still recognized today.

Why So Many “Introductions”?

When people ask “when was income tax introduced” , the answer depends on the country and whether the interest is in:

  • The very first experimental/temporary income tax (e.g., Britain 1799, U.S. 1861, India 1860).
  • The modern, permanent system that shaped today’s tax regimes (e.g., U.S. 1913 after the 16th Amendment).

So, historically, income tax began appearing around the late 1700s and became a permanent feature of government finance in many countries in the early 20th century.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.