Arkansas Taxation

Online Resources

 * 1814 - 1814 Arkansas Territory Tax List
 *  1816 - 1816 Arkansas Territory Tax List
 * 1819-1870 - Compiled Census and Census substitutes Index, 1819-1870 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1821-1884 - Arkansas tax records, 1821-1884 at FamilySearch. Images only. Arkansas tax records, various years for various counties. TIP: Those with a camera to the right of the entry can be opened and browsed.
 * 1862-1866 - U.S., Internal Revenue Assessment Lists, 1862-1874 at FamilySearch. Images only. TIP: Those with a camera to the right of the entry can be opened and browsed.
 * 1865-1874 - Internal Revenue assessment lists for Arkansas, 1865-1874 : annual, monthly and special lists at FamilySearch. Images only.  TIP: Those with a camera to the right of the entry can be opened and browsed.



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.

County Level
The county clerks have the original records on microfilm.

Microfilm copies of personal and property tax records, between 1860 and 1900, are available in the Family History Catalog section for most counties in Arkansas. However you will have to check under each individual county you are interested in, to do so follow these steps.

1. Go to the FamilySearch Catalog 2. In the Places search box, type United States, Arkansas, followed by the county you wish to search. 3. Scroll down to the catalog entry for "Taxation" and select the gray arrow for a drop down list of records available. Select the collections you're interested in. 4. Online records will have a camera symbol next to the collection listing. The film symbol is for collections available at the FHL.


 * Pre 1830 - Lafayette CO. Early Arkansas Terrotory Tax List - Before 1830.

State Level
State laws are always subject to change through the enactment of newly passed statutes or other means, while tax laws are periodically updated in accordance to the needs of the state. You may want to contact an Arkansas tax law attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state law(s) you are researching.

Tax Laws
Since 1861, the tax collector collects taxes. Previously the treasurer and later the sheriff collected taxes. The tax collector collects all county taxes, including "taxes on real and personal property, schools and special districts, and business licenses. "Historically the office of tax collector was combined with the office of county treasurer and sheriff. Today it is usually with the treasurer's office."

In July of 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act to provide income for the Government to pay the public debt including Civil War costs. After the Civil War, taxes were abolished until only a tax on liquor and tobacco remained in 1883. An 1895 Supreme Court ruling declared that income tax was unconstitutional and led to the ratification of the sixteenth amendment in 1913 which states that Congress has the power to establish and collect taxes on incomes. This was the beginning of our modern day taxes.

To learn more about this collection click here

For those Confederate States that were taken over by the Union they would then become subject to the Internal Revenue Act imposed by President Lincoln.

To learn more about the Civil War taxes click here

Nearly all states collect an annual tax on personal income, based on one's salary and other forms of "taxable income." The vast majority of states have what is known as a progressive tax code, which is essentially a sliding scale based on income, which requires those over a certain threshold to pay the highest rate. Some states have a flat tax that applies to all taxpayers regardless of income. Income taxes are used for a number of state goods and services available to residents, such as public education, police protection, and assistance for low-income individuals. Not all states collect income tax, but typically make up for it in other ways.

There are two types of taxes: federal and state. U.S. citizens need to be sure that they comply with both sets of tax laws.