On the day before April 15, there aren't a whole lot of people with the "warm and fuzzies" for the IRS, but you may change your mind thanks to this database at Ancestry.com: U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918.

About the Records
Because of the cost of the Civil War, the American government was in need of money. As a result, the first income tax (for individuals) was enacted by Congress in July of 1862. Most of the Confederate states were not initially taxed.

The income tax was challenged after the war and in 1895 the Supreme Court ruled that the tax was unconstitutional. (In 1913, the sixteenth amendment re-imposed the income tax.) Upon the 1895 ruling, individual tax returns were destroyed, but the assessors' lists were retained because they included references to licenses and other taxes. Those that survived are included in this collection. Within these records--in addition to the amount of taxable income your ancestors had--you'll see what other personal items of value were considered taxable, including watches, pianos, carriages, estates, silver, billiard tables, securities, and more. The items that could be taxed varied by year.

Putting the Records in Perspective
The National Archives' Prologue magazine ran an interesting and very helpful article on this collection, titled, "Income Tax Records of the Civil War Years," by Cynthia G. Fox.

The article provides background information on these assessment lists and discusses what items were taxable. It also includes some information that can help to put your ancestor's wealth in perspective as well as give you the average costs of consumer goods in 1869. For instance, here’s a paragraph on what common goods cost in Maryland:

"The average rent on a six-room house in Maryland was $10 per month. Consumer goods and food were also very reasonable in Maryland. Extra fine flour sold for $8 per barrel, roasted coffee was 35 cents per pound, beef was 15 cents per pound, butter was 40 cents per pound, eggs were 22 cents per dozen, coal was $8.50 per ton, medium quality satinets were 50 cents per yard, and men's heavy boots could be had for $5.25 a pair. In 1865 gold sold for $145 per ounce."

You can also compare the value of the 19th and early 20th-century dollar to today's value at www.measuringworth.com.

Searching the Database
You can search this database using the standard fields. You can also search using the NARA (National Archives) microfilm series number. Each film series number corresponds with a particular state. To see which number corresponds with which state, scroll to the “NARA Source Information” at the very bottom of the collection.

If searching doesn’t give you the results you want, you can also browse the collection by states, which are listed at the bottom of the page. When you click on a state you will see assessment lists for all the districts in that state. Each district covered multiple counties. Although the counties in each district are not listed on our site, here is a quick trick for figuring out which counties were in each district.

Go to the National Archives Microfilm catalog and click the blue “Microfilm” button. In the “Browse NARA’s Microfilm Catalog” field, enter the NARA microfilm number for the state you’re interested in. (Again, you can find the microfilm numbers for each state at the bottom of this collection, in the “NARA Source Information.” For Indiana, you would enter M765.)

Click “Search” and then select the title that appears for that microfilm number. On the next page you'll see a publication details PDF that includes which counties were included in each tax district for that state. (Note: One exception is New Jersey. It is bundled with New York and only gives the record type—annual, monthly, special, etc.—and the dates it covers by district.)

One More Tip
Here is one more helpful tip you may want to use when searching this database: Don’t stop with the first entry you find of your ancestor in your search results; there may be more.

Because there are multiple records in this collection—annual assessment lists, monthly assessment lists, and “special” assessment lists—you may find multiple records for the same individual in one year. And you will probably also find the individual covered in multiple years.

Although we may dread "when the taxman cometh," it's nice to know he also leaveth records.