Although the 16th Amendment did grant Congress the ability to levy a tax without basing that tax on census results or the like, the ability to tax income was still within Congress' authority prior to the 16th amendment. It is a common misconception that the 16th amendment "legalized" the income tax. The full text is: "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 bolded section, obviously, being the distinction from what was the case prior. [[User:JaPo|JaPo]] 03:25, 13 February 2013 (EST) | Although the 16th Amendment did grant Congress the ability to levy a tax without basing that tax on census results or the like, the ability to tax income was still within Congress' authority prior to the 16th amendment. It is a common misconception that the 16th amendment "legalized" the income tax. The full text is: "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 bolded section, obviously, being the distinction from what was the case prior. [[User:JaPo|JaPo]] 03:25, 13 February 2013 (EST) |