ECONOMICS REPORT - April 15th: An Important Day for American

ECONOMICS REPORT - April 15th: An Important Day for Americans, but Not Exactly a Holiday
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, April 15, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

April fifteenth is tax day for Americans. It is the last day to pay federal income taxes for the year before. Most taxpayers¹ have enough income tax collected all year long through their employer. So they do not owe any more. In fact, most get some money back.

There are different ways for people to reduce their income taxes. Homeowners, for example, can deduct² the interest they pay on a home loan. And there are tax credits, including credits for children.

Income tax rates increase as income increases. People who earned more than three hundred nineteen thousand dollars last year had the highest rate, thirty-five percent.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to establish federal taxes. State and local governments can also tax. But the idea of national taxes took time.

In seventeen ninety-one Congress approved a tax on whiskey and other alcoholic³ drink. Farmers in western Pennsylvania who produced alcohol refused to pay. They attacked officials and burned the home of a tax collector.

George Washington, America's first president, gathered troops. The soldiers defeated the so-called Whiskey Rebellion of seventeen ninety-four. It was one of the first times the government used its powers to enforce a federal law within a state.

At first, the United States government collected most of its money through tariffs⁴. These are taxes on trade. Then, in the late eighteen hundreds, Congress began to tax the money that people earned in their jobs.

The Supreme⁵ Court rejected the personal income tax as unconstitutional. So the states changed the Constitution. In nineteen-thirteen they passed the Sixteenth Amendment⁶. It gives Congress the power to collect taxes on income.

In two thousand three, personal income tax provided the government with thirty-seven percent of its money. Income tax on businesses provided six percent.

Other taxes provided an additional forty percent of the budget. And the remaining seventeen percent of federal income was money borrowed to cover the deficit⁷.

American tax laws are very complex. The Internal Revenue Service collects federal taxes. The I.R.S. estimates that taxpayers need an average of thirteen hours and thirty-five minutes in preparation time. And that is just to complete the basic tax form. Which is why a lot of people use tax preparers to do it for them.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

2 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。