President of the U.S., 1977-1981; Former Democratic Governor (GA)
1970s: Tried to extend withholding to interest and dividends
The reality of April 15 as we know it under the withholding scheme, instead of being a day when Americans are focused on what the government is costing them, most of us are instead focused on how much we're getting back from that government.
Since
1943, there have been plenty of efforts to expand the withholding scheme. In the 1970s, Pres. Carter attempted to have withholding extended to interest and dividends. This time Americans seemed to understand that having taxes withheld on their interest
and dividend earnings before those taxes were actually due would cost them additional earnings. The effort failed, but it was revived a few years later in 1982. With the enthusiastic support of Pres. Reagan, politicians cited the budget deficit as a
reason to expand withholding to include dividends and interest earnings. Congress authorized the additional withholding measure in 1982 but it was repealed a month after it went into effect.
Our tax structure is a disgrace and needs to be reformed. As Governor of Georgia for four years, we never increased sales taxes or income taxes or property tax.
As a matter of fact, the year before I went out of office we gave a $50 million refund for the property taxpayers of Georgia.
Source: A Government As Good As Its People, by Jimmy Carter, p.240
, Oct 1, 1976
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