Do you think Amendment 16, the Income Tax Amendment, is a fair one?

Question

Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Yes, but only if it is used to issue taxes fairly, for instance, the higher classes need to pay a higher tax than the lower taxes. it is also needed because it is one of the biggest incomes for the federal and state governments and it was instituted so that a tariff would not be needed(which is good because the tariff made relatively smaller amounts of money than the income tax does)

Answer 2

The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land, and some would claim there is no income tax law...and if there is no law that the IRS can point to for justification for Income Tax...well then...hmmmm....I find it interesting...

First of all the 16th Ammendment was never ratified by the States (According to the website I have listed below)(But if you go to Wikipedia it claims that it was ratified by the needed 3/4 of the States but it also acknowledges that it is contested and has more to say about the legality of it).

But in any case, afterwards (around 1923 I believe) there were about 8 Supreme Court decisions that said that personal income tax was not allowed...(Based primarily on the idea or concept that you OWN your labor and therefore it is an exchange)

But unfortunately..it is that slippery slope thing...like how on our Social Security Cards it USED to say "Not to be used for identification purposes"...and now not only is it used for identification routinely - now the Social Security Card has been changed and it doesn't say that on them anymore...and now we are even heading for National ID cards in May 2008...It seems to be the same with taxes...first put foot in door...then later on open it up....

I found this website to be interesting...

http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Aaron Russo made this documentary precisely regarding the "so called income tax law law". He also has very strong criticism of the Federal Reserve System. (A quote from him I like is..."The Federal Reserve is federal, like Federal Express is federal"...meaning that the Federal Reserve is just a PRIVATE Bank (not associated with the government at all....so why do THEY get to print the money...as much as THEY decide to...) anyway I digress...

There are a couple of free trailers and also go to the radio interviews (MP3s) there is a lot more interesting stuff that he talked about as well.

Answer 3

In general, the Amendment itself it probably reasonably fair. The problem, however, comes in the application and method of collection.

The IRS, although tamer in recent years, has a history of using threats and bullying tactics to collect additional taxes from people, even though they had paid their share. The late charges and penalties were horribly harsh, even for honest mistakes.

The next big problem is the legislative brach of the government. The goverment is spending more and more every year, and a huge amount of what is spent is just waste. Several years ago I was doing a research project and stumbled across a bill the was before the House. I read it front to back. The main bill was good, but then there were a couple of hundred pages of other stuff tacked onto it that cost US taxpayers a lot of money. We sent $600,000 to an orangatan orphanage in another country. HUH? Is that the government's job?

The government has forgotten that it's responsibilty to its people is to protect them and provide basic services. It is not their decision on where I should make charitable donations....

Sorry, got off on a rant.

Take a look here

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment16/01.html#2

Answer 4

I don't know the exact text of the 16th amendment, but I do agree that a source of revenue to support government functions is vital to the survival of the country. However, this does not mean I think those in charge are wise in the ways they spend that money.

Answer 5

Its about as fair as can be expected. Not perfect.
It would help if we didn't have so many illegal immigrants straining our systems.
If you look over the history of federal income tax and look at what the upper middle class and above pay, it is just astounding when you look at the numbers over the years.
On the other hand, we have great roadways, parks, schools, firefighters, law enforcement, etc.

Answer 6

There is no difference between physical slavery and economic slavery. The only things that should be taxed is booze and smokes.

Answer 7

Yes, for the ecomony even though I don't agree to it.