"IRS: We've got what it takes to take what…

“IRS: We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got” is a saying that’s appeared on T-shirts and bumper stickers. “A tax collector has what it takes to take what you’ve got” has been cited in print in 1963 and 1967; the saying is of unknown authorship.

“A politician is one who’s got what it takes to take what you’ve got” has been cited in print in 1960; the “politician” version possibly dates to the 1940s. Union Pacific (railroad) and Reimer Express Lines (moving company) both used the “We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got” slogan in the early 1970s. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) mock slogan of “We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got” has been the most popular usage in the 2000s.

Zazzle.com
I.R.S.
WE’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO TAKE WHAT YOu’VE GOT
T-shirt

5 November 1960, Danville (VA) Bee, pg. ?:
A politician is one who’s got what it takes to take what you’ve got.

Google Books
The Irish Digest
Volume 79
1963
Pg. 69:
Tax collector: One who’s got what it takes to take what you’ve got.

Google Books
Handbook of Humor for All Occasions
By Jacob Morton Braude
Bombay, Jaico
1966
Pg. 328:
Politician:
1. a career that’s more promising.
2. a fellow who borrows your pot in which to cook your goose.
3. a fellow who’s got what it takes to take what you’ve got.
(This entry also appears in at least one volume of Evan Esar’s Comic Dictionary, first published in 1943 and revised in 1951—ed.)

Google News Archive
5 July 1967, Gettysburg (PA) Times, “Quotes and Unquotes “by Former Editor of The Item, New Oxford Item, pg. 8, col. 4:
A tax collector has what it takes to take what you’ve got.

Google News Archive
4 April 1970, Fort Scott (KS) Tribune, pg. 5, col. 2 ad:
We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got
(Union Pacific—ed.)

3 November 1974, New Orleans (LA) Times-Picayune, sec. 5, pg. 33, col. 4:
TODAY’S CHUCKLE: “Gold digger—a girl who’s got what it takes to take what you’ve got!”

22 October 1988, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Three Minor-Party Hopefuls Aim to Be November Spoilers” by Patt Morrison, pg. 26:
The Tennessee-born truck driver is always ready with a quip from his fund of folksy political one-liners: “The new IRS slogan is: ‘We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got.’”

Google Books
The New Official Rules
By Paul Dickson
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
1990.
Pg. 33:
Boren’s Presidential Motto. I’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got. — humorist James Boren’s 1984 presidential platform.

Google Books
19 September 1994, Network World, “Internetworking Monitor” by Scott Bradner, pg. 24, col. 4:
IRS: We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got.

28 October 1998, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, Pg. C9, col. 2:
MORE BUMPER STICKERS:
. IRS: We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got.

RushLimbaugh.com
Obama Slogan: I have What It Takes to Take What You’ve Got
August 4, 2010
(...)
RUSH: Thank you very much, Chad. I appreciate it. The thing that you have to know is Obama knows what you just said. Yes, he does. He knows it. He resents it. He doesn’t want industriousness. He wants you turning to government. That’s what gives him power. If you succeed, he wants what you have. He wants to spread the wealth. He wants to redistribute. If you succeed, Chad, it marks you as unfair. You have an unfair advantage over those who haven’t, and you are guilty of the unjust immoral ways that America has been structured because the way Obama looks at it, if everybody doesn’t succeed, which of course is not possible, then the country is a failure. And those who do succeed have gamed the system. Those who have succeeded have done it unfairly, and he’s going to take what you have. Obama’s slogan, were he to have been honest during the 2008 presidential campaign: “I’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got,” because that essentially sums up Barack Obama. Now, some people might say, “Rush, how does Obama know this? He’s never had to work hard for anything.” That’s a good point. But he knows it because he sees it. There are people who have succeeded, he resents it, partially because he hasn’t. But regardless.

(Trademark)
Word Mark WE’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO TAKE WHAT YOU’VE GOT
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 039. US 105. G & S: Transportation of Goods by Truck. FIRST USE: 19710130. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19710130
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73347993
Filing Date February 1, 1982
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition September 28, 1982
Registration Number 1221208
Registration Date December 21, 1982
Owner (REGISTRANT) Reimer Express Lines Ltd. CORPORATION CANADA P.O. Box 875 1400 Inkster Blvd. Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA R3C 2S5
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record KIRK M. HUDSON
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR).
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date September 27, 2003