A Brief History Of: Accountants

It takes an estimated 32.7 hours to complete a standard 1040 income tax form, according to the Internal Revenue Service, so it's no wonder that nearly two-thirds of Americans get professional help. The U.S. income tax code, replete with embellishments like the earned-income tax credit and the mortgage-interest deduction, is not even a century old; the 16th Amendment created the modern federal income-tax structure in 1913. But for years personal-income-tax business for accountants remained a trickle--in 1918, only 5% of Americans earned enough to file returns. After the IRS cracked down on tax evaders in the 1950s, two Missouri brothers smelled...