The Law: The Sixteenth Amendment provides that Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Do you have to pay taxes according to the Constitution?
In the United States, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. This is also referred to as the “Taxing and Spending Clause.”
Why was the taxing clause included in the Constitution?
The Taxing Clause of Article I, Section 8, is listed first for a reason: the Framers decided, and the ratifiers of the Constitution agreed, that Congress must itself possess the power “to lay and collect Taxes . . . to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”
What does the constitution say about taking money?
No can do, must take only gold and silver coin. The money message of the Constitution is that the private sector does money to something approaching perfection. Seen this way, the Constitution suddenly appears far less “curt” and “weird” than is typical to us latter-day pseudo-sophisticates.
Why was there no tax in the Constitution?
Taxes imposed by Parliament were one of the triggers that set off the American colonies’ fight for independence (“No taxation without representation!”). So, the new nation’s Constitution stated in the first draft that citizens should not be subject to direct taxation. 1
When was the income tax added to the Constitution?
The amendment was ratified in 1913, clearing the legal hurdles to an income tax. Unsurprisingly, an income tax was levied that very year. The legislation was again taken up in front of the Supreme Court. On January 24, 1916, the court ruled that income taxes were now legal—due to the constitutional changes.
