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A tax is a compulsory payment levied by a government for its support and services. There are various kinds of taxes, such as taxes on the sale of goods, taxes on imported products (known as tariffs), and income taxes. Incomes taxes are levied against the earnings of estates and trusts, but especially against the earnings of corporations and individuals. The latter is known as an individual or personal income tax. Personal income taxes are most often associated with the federal government and the Internal Revenue Service (which is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury), but personal income taxes can also be levied by state and local governments against their citizens or people earning income within their jurisdiction but living elsewhere.

Personal income taxes had a haphazard evolution...