What is the 16th Amendment?
“The Congress shall have the 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.”
The 16th Amendment Defined
Date Proposed
The 16th Amendment was proposed on July 12th, 1909
Date Passed
The 16th Amendment was passed on February 3rd, 1913
President of the United States
William H. Taft was the President of the United States during the ratification of the 16th Amendment
Stipulations of the 16th Amendment
The United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 8) prohibited the implementation of unapportioned and direct taxation; as a result, the levy of income tax – once permitted to be regulated on a state-level prior to the ratification of the 16th Amendment – was placed under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government
The 16th Amendmentestablished the latent difference existing between direct taxes and indirect taxes; the amendment states that certain income tax be considered as an excise, indirect tax. However, taxation with regard to property rental and interest were considered to be direct taxes; as a result, such taxes were moved under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government
The 16th Amendment substantiates that the classification of a tax as ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’ is irrelevant; this amendment states that a Federal income tax can be collected without regard to an individual state’s respective population or gross amount of income
16th Amendment Facts
A Direct Tax is a tax that is collected directly from a governmental body
A flat tax is consistent in its rate; it does not fluctuate
The Revenue Act of 1861, which was passed during the Civil War in order to garner funding for combat, mandated that any or all income exceeding $800 would be subject to a %3 flat tax
The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which was passed in 1894, mandated that any or all income exceeding $4,000 would be liable to undergo a 2% tax
States Ratifying the 16th Amendment
1. Alabama
2. Arizona
3. Arkansas
4. California
5. Colorado
6. Delaware
7. Georgia
8. Idaho
9. Illinois
10. Indiana
11. Iowa
12. Kansas
13. Kentucky
14. Louisiana
15. Maine
16. Maryland
17. Massachusetts
18. Michigan
19. Minnesota
20. Mississippi
21. Missouri
22. Montana
23. Nebraska
24. Nevada
25. New Hampshire
26. New Jersey
27. New Mexico
28. New York
29. North Carolina
30. North Dakota
31. Ohio
32. Oklahoma
33. Oregon
34. South Carolina
35. South Dakota
36. Tennessee
37. Texas
38. Vermont
39. Washington
40. West Virginia
41. Wisconsin
42. Wyoming
States Not Participatory in the Ratification of the 16th Amendment
1. Connecticut
2. Florida
3. Pennsylvania
4. Rhode Island
5. Utah
6. Virginia
Court Cases Associated with the 16th Amendment
Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. (1895) – a court case involving Massachusetts resident Charles Pollock, who argued that while state-regulated income taxes were considered to be direct taxes, they were not subject to apportionment; as a result, Pollock argued that unapportioned, state-regulated direct taxes were in the direct violation of the Constitution – the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Pollock, which resulted in the proposal of the 16th Amendment
Subsequent to the Supreme Court ruling with regard to Charles Pollock, the 16th Amendment stood to clarify the distinction between presumed indirect and direct taxes.
