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Tax Page

Online Resources

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Why Use Tax Records
By studying several consecutive years of tax records you may determine when a young men came of age, when individuals moved in and out of a home, or when they died leaving heirs. Authorities determined wealth (real estate, or income) to be taxed. Taxes can be for polls, real and personal estate, or schools.

Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence. person’s residence.

Tax Laws
Abraham Lincoln instituted the income tax in 1862, and on July 1, 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue (later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service). This act was intended to “provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay interest on the Public Debt.” Instituted in the height of the Civil War, the “Public Debt” at the time primarily consisted of war expenses. For the Southern States that were part of the Confederate side of the Civil War, once Union troops took over parts of the Southern States, income tax were instituted on them.
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 * To learn more about the Civil War taxes click here

When the record existed and where to locate the records
Before the Revolutionary War, the rent rolls or quitrents (land use taxes) are the best records of this nature. Lists for some counties for the years 1658 to 1659, 1700 to 1724, and 1753 to 1762 are found in the Calvert Papers found at:


 * The Maryland Historical Society: Calvert Family, Calvert Papers. (Special Collection Reading Room MS174 27 reels)
 * The Family History Library, Cox, Richard J., ed. Calvert Papers. Baltimore, Maryland: Maryland Historical Society, 1973. (Family History Library films -874.)

The papers include quitrents, debt books, wills, marriage settlements, court records, land records, and family papers.

A guide to the microfilm edition is available for purchase from the Maryland Historical Society and at the Family History Library, book. There is also a descriptive summary on the Maryland Historical Society website to help with the film series.

The land office rent rolls and debt books at the Maryland State Archives are described in Maryland Land and Property.

A published transcription of rent rolls from two counties is:


 * Maryland Rent Rolls: Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, 1700-1707, 1705-1724. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. (Family History Library book .) This work shows residence and sometimes contains clues about marriages and places of origin. It is indexed.

In 1783 a tax was assessed to pay for the Revolutionary War. The tax lists were collected by county and all but Frederick County's were preserved, available at the Maryland Historical Society and Maryland State Archives (which has a name index). They have digitized the available county records and made them available online. They give the name of each householder, the number of dependents, and helpful information about taxable property. Lists for Calvert, Cecil, Harford, and Talbot counties have been published. They are at the Family History Library in:


 * Carothers, Bettie Stirling. 1783 Tax List of Maryland. Lutherville, Md.: Bettie Carothers, 1977..

Baltimore City tax records for 1798 to 1896 are on microfilm at the Baltimore City Archives.

“Copies of the 1790-1800 Federal Assessment (mostly 1798)” are at the Family History Library (on 13 Family History Library films beginning with ), Maryland State Archives, and Maryland Historical Society. Later tax lists are at the Maryland State Archives or in the local county offices. These include the years 1790 to 1805.

Websites

 * Maryland State Archives
 * Baltimore City Archives