The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913 brought us the federal income tax:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
You can read about the history of the U.S. tax system here. Like all government run programs, it has grown and grown and grown in scope from the point of introduction. What you might not know is that New Mexico is widely considered to have a special place in history as 36th state to ratify the amendment. That was the magic number at the time.
Happy Tax Day!