The 16th Amendment
The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:
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. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution
This is in contradiction to the Constitution, which states that a direct tax does require apportionment. Also notice that the 16th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified in 1913 (there is evidence that it was not legally ratified), which means that it was also in conflict with Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, 158 U.S. 601 (1895).
Let’s look at some relevant court cases.
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., supra,at 157 U. S. 557 (1895)
In the matter of taxation, the Constitution recognizes the two great classes of direct and indirect taxes, and lays down two rules by which their imposition must be governed, namely, the rule of apportionment as to direct taxes, and the rule of uniformity as to duties, imposts, and excises
Brushaber v. Union Pacific R. Co., 240 U.S. 1 (1916)
In the whole history of the government down to the time of the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment, leaving aside some conjectures expressed of the possibility of a tax lying intermediate between the two great classes and embraced by neither, no question has been anywhere made as to the correctness of these propositions.
Neither Brushaber nor Pollock has been overridden or challenged.
Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co., 240 U.S. 103 (1916)
. . . the Sixteenth Amendment conferred no new power of taxation, but simply prohibited the previous complete and plenary power of income taxation possessed by Congress from the beginning from being taken out of the category of indirect taxation to which it inherently belonged . . .
This case upheld the prior court decision and the Constitution itself. It denied that the 16th Amendment superseded the Constitution.
Eisner v. Macomber, 252 U.S. 189 (1920)
The Sixteenth Amendment must be construed in connection with the taxing clauses of the original Constitution and the effect attributed to them before the amendment was adopted. In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 158 U. S. 601, under the Act of August 27, 1894, c. 349, § 27, 28 Stat. 509, 553, it was held that taxes upon rents and profits of real estate and upon returns from investments of personal property were in effect direct taxes upon the property from which such income arose, imposed by reason of ownership, and that Congress could not impose such taxes without apportioning them among the states according to population, as required by Article I, § 2, cl. 3, and § 9, cl. 4, of the original Constitution.
Afterwards, and evidently in recognition of the limitation upon the taxing power of Congress thus determined, the Sixteenth Amendment was adopted, in words lucidly expressing the object to be accomplished:
“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.”
As repeatedly held, this did not extend the taxing power to new subjects, but merely removed the necessity which otherwise might exist for an apportionment among the states of taxes laid on income. Brushaber v. Union Pacific R. Co., 240 U. S. 1, 240 U. S. 17-19; Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co., 240 U. S. 103, 240 U. S. 112 et seq.; Peck & Co. v. Lowe, 247 U. S. 165, 247 U. S. 172-173.”
In summary, the 16th Amendment authorized Congress to levy taxes without apportionment. (For more on the apportionment requirement, see my post here). This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and a prior court decision. Court decisions after the amendment deny that the amendment extended taxes to those who previously were not liable.
As I explain in a prior post here, there is so much confusion as to the law, that the average American citizen’s due process is severely threatened.
We must demand that the IRS show the American people what law requires them to file and pay federal income tax. Where is the law found? How are they to determine what law to follow?