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Congress can tax income without apportionment among states
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∙ 9y ago
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You are self employed make about 3000 a year do you need to pay taxes?
Yes, you should file a return. You probably will not owe any income tax, but you will be subject to self-employment tax of 15.3%. ANSWER:If you need to pay taxes it is because you owe the tax. If you owe a tax it is because you were either made liable for that tax or you have accepted the liability on behalf of the person who was made liable for the tax. How much you've earned is irrelevant until you have been made liable for an income tax. What makes you liable? Are you involved in some sort of taxed activity that has clearly been named by the Internal Revenue Code as a taxed activity or is it your income being taxed directly that is the subject of this tax? The first question that should be asked in regards to any tax is what is the subject of the tax? What exactly is being taxed? If the subject of the tax is income then it is a direct tax upon your property. There are numerous lower court decisions that will quibble with my assertion and there are some real scary judges out there who are convinced that your income is not your property and that your labor is not owned by you. Any one who has even a basic understanding of the law knows this is quite simply not true. Your income is your property and you most certainly do own your own labor. If the subject of the "Personal Income Tax" is income then it is a direct tax governed by the rule of apportionment. Since the "Personal Income Tax" is an unapportioned income tax then it should be assumed that the tax is not a direct tax on property but instead is an indirect tax on some sort of taxed activity. The lower courts, once again will quibble with this assertion, some have even reinterpreted Supreme Court rulings, (Since they can't overturn a Supreme Court ruling.), in order to quibble over my assertion. I highly recommend you look at these Supreme Court rulings which have remained remarkably consistent since the 16th Amendment was first passed. However, reading case law is arduous and requires a certain knowledge of legal language. It is not necessary to study case law in order to understand the meaning and intent of the 16th Amendment. It certainly helps to know the history that led up to the enactment of the 16th Amendment but even with out historical context any person of average intelligence who understands the Constitution of the United States can discern the true meaning of this Amendment. I say true meaning because today most people who think they know something about the 16th Amendment, including a multitude of those lower court judges I mentioned, believe that the 16th Amendment relieved Congress of the rule of apportionment in regards to income taxation. This is not true and you can read the Amendment for yourself to first know the error of this assertion. The 16th Amendment states:Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.Many of those scary judges in the lower courts I keep to referring to will actually paraphrase the 16th Amendment in order to support their own assertions that this Amendment relieved Congress of the rule of apportionment and will mention how the 16th Amendment made this possible by authorizing an income tax "without regard to apportionment." Of course if you're still reading now then it's safe to assume you read the 16th Amendment and I don't need to tell you that this Amendment did not say anything about a disregard for apportionment. If this were the case the 16th Amendment would have been most certainly struck down as Unconstitutional since no Amendment can be created to erase or change any part of the original constitution. Congress can add to it as long as those additions or Amendments are harmonious with the Constitution itself. What the sixteenth Amendment does say is that an unapportioned income tax should be viewed without regard to census of enumeration. Census of enumeration is how Congress would levy a capitation if they could ever figure out how to successfully pass such a tax. No capitation tax has ever successfully passed legislation in the United States. If a capitation tax were to be passed it, like a tax on property, would be subject to the rule of apportionment. Are you beginning to understand? What the 16th Amendment is telling everybody is that if Congress passes an unapportioned income tax it should not be viewed as a direct tax but rather as an indirect tax where all income taxes inherently belong. Don't believe me? Then go find the necessary case law in Supreme Court rulings that make the same assertion. But do you really need to read case law in order to know that Congress can't change the Constitution by Amendment? Do you really need to spend countless hours wading through the 37,000,000,000 words of the Internal Revenue Code and Supreme Court rulings to know that 16th Amendment never named any subject of any tax? Congress did not gain any new power of taxation, nor was any new burden placed upon the people by the 16th Amendment. Congress has always had the power to lay and collect taxes from whatever source derived and do this as an unapportioned tax. These taxes are known as taxed activities in the case of such an income tax, income is not the subject of the tax as the taxed activity is the subject of the tax and income is merely what is used to decide how much is owed. If you are self employed and all you earned in a year was about 3000 dollars and since income is not the subject of the tax, then the big question becomes what did you do to earn that 3000 dollars? Is that activity specifically named by the Code? If the answer to that question is no, then the answer to your question is no.
What is the difference between personal and functional distribution of income?
The personal distribution of income shows how income, regardless of its source, is divided by quintiles among all the families in the country. The functional distribution of income shows the sources of income, as payments to the four factors of production: labor, entrepreneurs, physical capital, and land (natural resources). The breakdown is: wages and salaries, proprietors' income, corporate profits, interest, and rents.
What items would be paid for with discretionary income?
Anything can be paid for with discretionary income. That's what makes it discretionary. "Discretionary income" isn't a real "thing". It's actually all just income. "Discretionary" income refers to what's left over after you've paid for necessities: food, water, shelter, taxes, "fixed costs", things like that. So, probably the item among the following that isn't actually a NEED is the one the question is looking for.
Is net income a cumulative amount?
"Net income" refers to income earned during a single accounting period (for example, a single year) only.Positive net income for a particular accounting period increases Retained Earnings, which is a cumulative amount that includes (among other things) all cumulative earnings and losses from the date of the firm's inception. A net loss for any given accounting period decreases Retained Earnings.
When did the IRS start and why?
The IRS began in July 1863 during the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln and Congress created the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted a temporary income tax to pay war expenses. The position of Commissioner exists today as the head of the Internal Revenue Service.The Revenue Act of 1862 was passed as an emergency and temporary war-time tax. It copied a relatively new British system of income taxation, instead of trade and property taxation. The first income tax was passed in 1861.However, in 1872, seven years after the war, lawmakers allowed the temporary Civil War income tax to expire. Income taxes evolved, but in 1894 the Supreme Court declared the Income Tax of 1894 unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.. The federal government scrambled to raise money.In 1906, with the election of President Theodore Roosevelt, and later his successor William Howard Taft, the United States saw a populist movement for tax reform. This movement culminated during then candidate Woodrow Wilson's election of 1912 and in February, 1913, the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: "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."In the first year after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, no taxes were collected-instead, taxpayers simply completed the form and the IRS checked it for accuracy. The IRS's workload jumped by ten-fold, triggering a massive restructuring. Professional tax collectors began to replace a system of "patronage" appointments. The IRS doubled its staff, but was still processing 1917 returns in 1919.The 1980s saw a reorganization of the IRS. A bipartisan commission was created with several mandates, among them to increase customer service and improve collections. Congress later enacted the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. As a result of that Act, the IRS now functions under four major operating divisions: Large Business and International division (LB&I), the Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) division, the Wage and Investment (W&I) division, and Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TE/GE) division. Effective October 1, 2010, the name of the Large and Mid-Size Business division changed to the Large Business & International (LB&I) division.
When did they decide taxing your income was legal?
The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified by the States in 1913. The main point about it was that it allowed congress to levy a tax on without apportionment among the states. A prior US Supreme Court decision had held that an income tax was unconstitutional because it was not apportioned among the states.
The process of allocating congressional seats among the fifty states is called?
Apportionment
What did the sixteen amendment do?
The [United States of America] 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.
When was the amendment that gave congress authority to enact an income tax ratified?
The amendment that gave Congress authority to enact an income tax was ratified on February 3, 1913. This amendment, known as the 16th Amendment, allows Congress to levy and collect taxes on income without apportionment among the states.
What law makes income tax legal?
Amendment XVI - Ratified 2/3/1913 "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."
Amendment allows the government to collect an income tax?
The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on Census results. This amendment overruled Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), which limited the Congress's authority to levy an income tax.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
What amendment to the US constitution allows congress to collect income taxes?
The Sixteenth Amendment. "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."
Why was the 16th amendment proposed?
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 censsus or enumeration
Where is the written law for taxing incomeI cant find it?
It is the 16th Amendment entitled Status of Income Tax Clarified. It was ratified on 2/3/1913. 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.
What did the sixteenth admendment make legal?
An income tax without apportioning it among the states according to the Census. It also made it possible to tax income from rental properties, stocks, bonds, and dividends without apportioning it among the states. Without the amendment, any such taxes would put more of a burden on states with little investment and less on states with lots of investment.
The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted Congress the?
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.
What is the 16th amendment used for?
16th Amendment: 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.
