IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862 - 1918 on ALE

On July 1, 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue (later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service). This act was intended to “provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay interest on the Public Debt.” Instituted in the height of the Civil War, the “Public Debt” at the time primarily consisted of war expenses.

The Internal Revenue Act also established the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and allowed the country to be divided into collection districts, of which assessors and collectors were appointed. Among the 10,517 databases or so in Ancestry Library Edition is the U.S., IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862 - 1918. 

Taxable goods and services were determined by legislative acts passed throughout the years. All persons, partnerships, firms, associations, and corporations submitted to the assistant assessor of their division, a list showing the amount of annual income, articles subject special taxes and duties, and the quantity of goods made or sold that were charged with taxes or duties. The assistant assessors collected and compiled these lists into two general lists. These lists were:

1. A list of names of all individuals residing in the division who were subject to taxation

2. A list of names of all individuals residing outside the division, but who were owners of property in the division

These lists were organized alphabetically according to surname and recorded the value, assessment, or enumeration of taxable income or items and the amount of tax due. After all examinations and appeals, copies of these lists were given to the collector who then went and collected the taxes.

The assessment lists are divided into 3 categories:

1. Annual

2. Monthly

3. Special

Annual and monthly lists are for taxes assessed or collected within those periods of time. Special lists supplemented incomplete annual and monthly lists and also included any taxes that were indicated as “special” by the assessors.

About the Records:

Form 23, Assessment List, was the form used for many years to record tax information. Although there are several different versions of this form, it generally recorded:

• Name of Collection District
• Name of Collector
• Date of the list
• Instructions for completing the form
• Name of person or business being taxed
• Address
• Taxable period
• Amount reported by the collector
• Remarks on the assessment
• Article or occupation taxed
• Record of payment if the tax was paid
• Amount paid or abated

Form 58, List of Unassessable Collections, recorded the receipt and disbursement of unassessed collections. Unassessed collections could include: conscience money, paid court order fines, and offers of compromise, among others. There are records in this database relating to South Carolina but only for the period 1864-1866. Records from 38 other states for various other spans of time are also included. 

I used the US, IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862 - 1918 database within ALE  to see if I could find any records related to my own ancestors who lived in Beaufort District for generations. And I did! 

As it turned out, the Tax Assessment Lists for Beaufort District appear in the records of South Carolina District 2, Division #8, on pages 482 -486 of the list that was made between August 1865 and December 1866. I learned that my great-great-great uncle T. G. Buckner (who had been Beaufort District's Clerk of Court before and during the Civil War) had to pay the federal government a $2.00 tax on the accessed value of his carriage made on May 1, 1865. According to the revenue agent, the carriage was worth $200.00.

Perhaps you should explore this particular database in Ancestry Library Edition in hopes of discovering one of your ancestors listed therein, too.