In peacetime during America's early decades, most of the federal government's revenue came from import taxes called tariffs. The U.S. Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1789 to help generate revenue to pay off its war debts and to encourage and protect manufacturers in the northern states.
Explanation:
The three main sources of federal tax revenue are individual income taxes, payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes. Other sources of tax revenue include excise taxes, the estate tax, and other taxes and fees.
The chief way the government gets the money it spends is through taxation. Figure 1 shows the relative sizes of sources of federal government tax revenues. Forty-five percent of federal tax revenue comes from individuals' personal income taxes. Another 39 percent comes from Social Security and Medicare withholdings.
