Can Knowing Your Industry History Attract Customers?
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011As a good historian, as I have been focusing on the history of my client, a leading accounting firm in Boston, I have also been delving into the good reputation for accounting, tax law, and banking in Boston and also the U.S. and it is been fascinating!!!
I needed to share some fun facts with you to exhibit that:
1) Accounting, tax law, and banking history can be fun!
2) Out of the “fun” can come information you can share with your customers, work to your own story (website, ads), or assist you to connect with new markets and joint venture partners. You might give a talk at your local historical society and attract new clients that way, or write something for the local newspaper connecting your company to local history! Adding this kind of history during these along with other ways will really set you apart!
Fun information about accounting, taxes, and banking:
� 1689: The Andros Rebellion in Ipswich, Massachusetts, may be the first protest against taxation without representation in America.
� 1765-1770s: British Parliament levies progressively more taxes on the American colonies; the most famous protest takes place in 1774 when “Indians” dump tea into Boston Harbor; war breaks in 1775.
� 1781-89: As the country is being governed underneath the Articles of Confederation, the brand new national government collects taxes by requisitioning sums from each state; the federal government was lacking the ability to tax individuals.
� 1781: The first de facto central bank within the U.S., the Bank of North America, is chartered through the Continental Congress. It was succeeded through the First Bank of the United States in 1791, initiated by Alexander Hamilton, chartered by Congress, and signed into law by President Washington.
� 1786: The Massachusetts Bank funds the very first trade voyage to China.
� 1789: Congress votes to give the federal government the ability to tax individuals, nevertheless the focus of taxation was on the “imposts and duties” of imported goods, and excise taxes on “manufactures, sale, and consumption.”
� 1794: The internal tax on distilled spirits and cigarettes and tobacco products, unfairly targeting rural areas, leads to a tax protest known as the Whiskey Rebellion.
� 1800-1: Newly elected President Jefferson abolishes all internal taxes.
� Throughout the “Free Banking” Era of 1837 to 1862, only state-chartered banks existed.
� 1861-1865: The first income tax is levied by President Lincoln to raise funds to pay for the Union Army; he produces the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. This tax allowed for personal and business deductions, setting happens for future tax policy.
The Civil War Acts also established the concept of a yearly accounting for income by annual gains, profits, and income language, and the requirement for more accountants!
� 1880s and 1890s: Numerous accountants from England settle in Boston, expanding and influencing the profession.
1895: An 1894 tax amendment attached to a tariff bill is declared unconstitutional through the Supreme Court. They rule that the tax violated the necessity that taxes “be apportioned equally one of the states.”
� 1907: The Panic of 1907 is the worst operate on banks; it results in the roll-out of the government Reserve Act many years later in 1913, under President Wilson.
� 1908: The very first credit union in the U.S. is established, in New Hampshire.
� 1913: Wyoming becomes the 36th state to ratify the Sixteenth Amendment towards the Constitution, paving the way in which for any permanent system of income taxation in the usa.
� 1914: The very first income tax returns are due on March 1. As an IRS historian explained it, “Through the following 25 years, tax rates remained at levels that affected only the very wealthy. Essentially, payment of greenbacks taxes within the years preceding World War II was a manifestation of affluence. Some citizens proudly reported that they paid their taxes as proof of their financial success.”
� 1917: The very first two women in Massachusetts pass the CPA examination – Alice M. Hill and Gertrude L. Briggs.
� 1935: The Social Security Act of 1935 imposes a wage tax – half was withheld for the individual, half was paid through the employer.
� 1954: The interior Revenue Code of 1954 imposes a modern tax.
I possibly could continue, and I’ll spare you the listing of taxes levied through the government to cover every war we’ve been in (because it’s awfully depressing!), but isn’t this interesting material???
Do you observe how a company links track of what’s going on locally, nationally, and internationally? Many of us are part of something much bigger, and it’s fun to put our businesses into historical context.