Which amendment gave government the power to impose an income tax?

Question

Which amendment gave government the power to impose an income tax?

Answer 1

No amendment gave the government the power to tax. The power to impose income tax comes from Article I section VIII which provides "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;". As another poster noted the 16th amendment merely removed a distinction between direct tax (tax on profits from property) and indirect (tax on wages or professional receipts).  

Answer 2

Amendment XVI

The Congress shall have 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.

Answer 3

The power to tax income existed in the constitution from the time it was ratified. The first federal income tax was enacted during the Civil War.

The 16th amendment removed any need for Congress to apportion the income tax according to the population of each state. In other words, with the 16th amendment Congress can tax income at the same rates across the country, instead of having to tax people in rural states less.

It is often said that the 16th amendment authorized income tax, but in fact it authorized income tax in its present form. And yes, it really was ratified.

Answer 4

The 16th amendment.

Answer 5

Many believe that the 16th amendment was  never truly ratified, but the government simply stated that it was. It was created in order to pay to the FEDERAL RESERVE the interest charges accrued for printing and loaning the federal government money. That is for every EXPENDITURE of the government...nice little racket. None of the collected income tax dollars goes to pay for roads, welfare, military, research, or any other form of the "Commons", it simply pays the interest owed to the FEDERAL RESERVE.