Tax Records

It’s often a pain to file your individual taxes with the government (unless you end up with a refund!). But the fact that various levels of government in the United States have kept records of our taxes turns pain into pleasure for genealogists: Tax records let you anchor your ancestors in a particular place and discover in detail their economic situations over time.

Tax lists are especially welcome as a replacement for records in “burned counties” and areas that have suffered census losses. Even when census records are complete, you often can use tax records to fill the decade between enumerations, especially for rural ancestors who may not appear in city directories.

While the current version of the federal income tax (as well as state income levies, most of them introduced in the second half of the 20th century) is off-limits due to privacy, you’ll see that’s generally not the case with such taxes historically. Even the first federal personal income tax, used to pay for the Civil War in the 1860s, is publicly available.

Here’s how you can make tax records pay off for your genealogy research.

TYPES OF TAX RECORDS

One of the most widespread taxes in Colonial times was a flat assessment for each adult male in a household. This was variously called a poll, tithable or head tax. The age at which one was considered a taxable adult varied with the jurisdiction, and older men often could “age out” of the tax, usually between 50 and 60. Exceptions were made in some areas for veterans, ministers and those deemed “paupers” (that is, too poor to pay the tax).