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Income tax was born as an idea in England in 1799, entered Brazil on December 31, 1922, became the main revenue in 1979, gained the lion as a mascot, and today is a central part of a federal revenue that exceeded R$ 2.88 trillion in 2025
The Income Tax has been, since 1979, the main form of tax collection in Brazil. But the history of Income Tax begins long before it became an annual routine in the lives of millions of Brazilians.
The origin of the model that inspired the country dates back to 1799 in England, goes through the symbolism of the lion adopted by the Federal Revenue, and reaches a curious technological turning point: the time when declaring Income Tax even involved floppy disks.
The British inspiration of 1799 and the war against Napoleon
According to the Federal Revenue, the collection system in Brazil was inspired by the income tax created in England in 1799. In that context, William Pitt, Prime Minister of Great Britain, saw general taxation as a way to finance the conflicts between his country and Napoleon Bonaparte.
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The design of the tax was progressive for the time: those earning more than 200 pounds paid 10%, while incomes between 60 and 200 pounds were taxed at rates ranging from 1% to 10%. Those earning less than 60 pounds were not taxed.
Resistance at the beginning and the tax as a “patriotic act”
The idea faced initial rejection. Many Britons opposed the measure, but the scenario changed afterward: with victory in the war, the population began to trust the tax more. Over time, paying income tax even gained a sense of civic duty, seen as a patriotic act.
This path opened the door for other countries to adopt similar formats, each with its objectives and adaptations.
When the Income Tax arrived in Brazil in 1922
Brazil entered this list on December 31, 1922. However, here, the collection was not aimed at financing wars: the focus was to increase the federal budget.
According to the Federal Revenue, taxation aims to finance public policies. The Income Tax has no specific destination: it enters the set of the country’s budget revenues, which helps explain why the tax can literally be anywhere in the budget.
1979 was the turning point for the highest revenue
Until 1978, the Income Tax was a tax like any other within the system. The change came in 1979 when the tax began to lead revenue collection in Brazil, a position that marks its centrality in public accounts since then.
This turning point was not just numerical. It also helped consolidate the tax as a recurring symbol of campaigns, oversight, and accountability.
The lion of the Revenue and the symbol that crossed decades
The year following the revenue leadership, the Federal Revenue celebrated with a novelty: the Income Tax gained an official mascot, the lion. The choice, according to the Tax Authority, took into account characteristics associated with the animal:
Noble, strong by presence, “king” that does not attack without warning, fair, loyal, and gentle, but not foolish.
The result was a high-impact campaign. The symbol remained and is still associated with the Income Tax, even influencing popular expressions, such as the term “lion’s booklet.”
The era of the floppy disk and the digital turn of the 1990s
In 1990, other changes defined the course of the Income Tax in the following decades. It was during this period that digital technologies began to gain ground, with the submission of declarations via floppy disk, a storage device that the base compares to a memory card.
This movement was the first step of a larger transformation, as the declaration was previously done manually, on paper, which opened the door for simple and costly problems: illegible handwriting, ink stains, and discrepancies that could lead to fine mesh.
From paper to online, less error and more standardization
Today, the Income Tax can be submitted online and standardized. This reduces the occurrence of errors in data cross-checking and helps make the process more consistent, both for those declaring and for those overseeing.
The technological change also reinforced the logic of accountability on a large scale, something that connects directly to the size of current revenue.
The current weight of Income Tax and the deadline of 2026
In 2025, the federal government collected over R$ 2.88 trillion, and a large part of this amount came from the Income Tax. In 2026, according to the Federal Revenue, more than 8 million Brazilians have already filed their taxes.
For those who still need to declare, the deadline is until May 29.
Which phase of the Income Tax do you find most remarkable, the paper declaration, the floppy disk one, or the fully online one? And did you know about these phases?
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