Donald Duck Wants You to Pay

Your federal income taxes, that is. 

In the midst of World War II, the American Government sought a way to finance its defense spending, which was roughly 70% of all federal spending in 1943 - this was markedly up from the 18% of total federal spending in 1940 (EH.net, 2010). 

As you can see from Table 1, the increases in manufacturing output in the U.S. were remarkable in the five years shown. Most of this increase can be attributed to boosted government subsidies that were funded by taxpayers. The government depended on this tax revenue and used it as a means to fight the war.

So what do you do when citizens aren’t paying their income taxes? Well, you use Donald Duck propaganda to scare people into paying their income taxes! The video posted above was released in 1943 in an effort to educate and encourage Americans to pay their federal income taxes. Maybe that’s why income tax collections in Washington Territory during the Civil War Era were a flop? 

According to Phil Roberts, author of A Penny for the Governor, A Dollar for Uncle Sam (2002), Washingtonians weren’t so cooperative when it came to paying their federal income taxes in the mid nineteenth century.  He attributed this to many factors such as geography, population demographics, and the collection agents assigned to Washington Territory.  Also, newspapers in Washington weren’t labeling tax evaders unpatriotic like they did in many other territories and states.  However, in an effort to get more people to pay their federal income taxes, the government did make all tax returns public, like the one shown below.  You can even see President Lincoln’s taxes paid, $1,296, from 1864.