Which amendment established the income tax?

Which amendment established the income tax?

• A. 16th
• B. 17th
• C. 18th
• D. 19th

Answer: (A)

The key idea is the constitutional authority to tax income. The Sixteenth Amendment explicitly allows Congress to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportioning them among the states. This clarified and confirmed federal power to impose a national income tax, something that had been blocked by earlier Supreme Court rulings like Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., which struck down other forms of income tax because they required apportionment. The amendment, ratified in 1913, enabled the modern federal tax system that funded programs and regulation during the Progressive Era. The other amendments refer to different reforms—changing how senators are chosen, starting Prohibition, and granting women the vote—so they don’t establish an income tax.

The key idea is the constitutional authority to tax income. The Sixteenth Amendment explicitly allows Congress to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportioning them among the states. This clarified and confirmed federal power to impose a national income tax, something that had been blocked by earlier Supreme Court rulings like Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., which struck down other forms of income tax because they required apportionment. The amendment, ratified in 1913, enabled the modern federal tax system that funded programs and regulation during the Progressive Era. The other amendments refer to different reforms—changing how senators are chosen, starting Prohibition, and granting women the vote—so they don’t establish an income tax.