Taxes by Computer: "Right on the Button" circa 1966 Internal Revenue Service ( IRS )

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• published: 12 Apr 2014
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more at http://money.quickfound.net A mid-60s introduction to how the IRS uses computers and Automatic Data Processing (ADP), with lots of footage of early mainframe computer hardware. Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_700/7000_series The IBM 700/7000 series was a series of large-scale (mainframe) computer systems made by IBM through the 1950s and early 1960s. The series included several different, incompatible processor architectures. The 700s used vacuum tube logic and were made obsolete by the introduction of the transistorized 7000s. The 7000s, in turn, were eventually replaced by System/360, which was announced in 1964. However the 360/65, the first 360 powerful enough to replace 7000s, did not become available until November 1965. Early problems with OS/360 and the high cost of converting software kept many 7000s in service for years afterward... Architectures The IBM 700/7000 series had six completely different ways of storing data and instructions: - First (36/18-bit words): 701 (Defense Calculator) - Scientific (36-bit words): 704, 709, 7090, 7094, 7040, 7044 - Commercial (variable length character strings): 702, 705, 7080 - 1400 series (variable length character strings): 7010 - Decimal (10 digit words): 7070, 7072, 7074 - Supercomputer (64-bit words): 7030 "Stretch" The 700 class used vacuum tubes, the 7000 class was transistorized. All machines (like most other computers of the time) used magnetic core memory; except for early 701 and 702 models, which used CRT memory... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_729 The IBM 729 Magnetic Tape Unit was IBM's iconic tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Part of the IBM 7 track family of tape units, it was used on late 700, most 7000 and many 1400 series computers. Like its predecessor, the IBM 727 and many successors, the 729 used 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) magnetic tape up to 2400 feet (730 m) long wound on reels up to 10½ inch (267 mm) diameter. To allow rapid tape acceleration (and thus reduced seek/access times), long vacuum columns were placed between the tape reels and the read/write heads to absorb sudden increases in tape tension which would otherwise break the tape. Write protection was provided by a removable plastic ring in the back of the tape reel... Data format The tape had seven parallel tracks, six for data and one to maintain parity. Tapes with character data (BCD) were recorded in even parity. Binary tapes used odd parity. (709 manual p. 20) Aluminum strips were glued several feet from the ends of the tape to serve as logical beginning and end of tape markers. Write protection was provided by a removable plastic ring in the back of the tape reel. A 3/4 inch gap between records allowed the mechanism enough time to stop the tape. Initial tape speed was 75 inches per second (2.95 m/s) and recording density was 200 characters per inch, giving a transfer speed of 120 kbit/s. Later 729 models supported 556 and 800 characters/inch (transfer speed 480 kbit/s). At 200 characters per inch, a single 2400 foot tape could store the equivalent of some 50,000 punched cards (about 4,000,000 six-bit bytes, or 3 MByte). The 729 series was superseded by 9 track tape drives introduced with the IBM System/360... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The IRS is responsible for collecting taxes and the interpretation and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code. The first income tax was assessed in 1862 to raise funds for the American Civil War, with a rate of 3%. Today the IRS collects over $2.4 trillion each tax year from around 234 million tax returns... Modernization and the Internet (1970--present) After the introduction of microfilm, massive computerization efforts occurred from the 1960s onward.[citation needed] In 1995, the IRS began to use the public Internet for electronic filing. Since the introduction of e-filing, self-paced online tax services have flourished, augmenting the work of tax accountants, who were sometimes replaced. In 2003, the IRS struck a deal with tax software vendors: The IRS would not develop online filing software and, in return, software vendors would provide free e-filing to most Americans. In 2009, 70% of filers qualified for free electronic filing of federal returns...