Practice Management

February 3, 1913: Amendment XVI

By Dan Hull

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.

April 15 has been federal Tax Day in America since 1955--but it all started with the 1895 U.S. Supreme Court case (5-4 vote) in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company. In Pollock, the Court declared unconstitutional a federal income tax on income from certain stocks and bonds, and thereby invalidated part of an 1894 act that imposed a direct tax on the incomes of U.S. citizens and corporations. The 16th Amendment was proposed by Congress on July 12, 1909, and finally ratified by the states on February 3, 1913 (1,302 days). It mooted Pollock. The amendment was rejected by New Hampshire, Arkansas, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah.

Full post as published by What About Clients? on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).