Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
1913 amendment regulating the collection of federal income tax / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ratified on February 3, 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to impose a federal income tax.[1] This allows the federal government to collect a tax on personal income, no matter where that income came from.[lower-alpha 1] The Sixteenth Amendment overturned the 1895 Supreme Court landmark decision in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.[3] In Pollock, the Court ruled that a 2 percent tax on incomes over $4,000 was unconstitutional.[3] This was because the law the ruling struck down did not allow for apportionment,[lower-alpha 2] the court ruled against it.[3] The Sixteenth Amendment allowed Congress to levy a uniform direct income tax without being subject to apportionment.