Amendment 16 of 27 · 1913
Sixteenth Amendment
Income tax
The one-line version
Congress can tax your income, from any source, without dividing the tax among the states by population.
The Sixteenth Amendment in plain English
Congress has the power to tax incomes from any source, without apportioning the tax among the states based on population, and without regard to any census.
Original text, 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.
Phrase by phrase
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes
- Congress can set and collect taxes on income.
from whatever source derived
- This covers income from any source, such as a job, a business, or investments.
without apportionment among the several States
- The tax does not have to be divided among the states based on how many people live in each one.
Picture it
Example. Not legal advice.
You get your first paycheck from a summer job, and it is smaller than you expected. Part of it went to taxes, including federal income tax, which this amendment allows. If you earned only a little, you may get some or all of the income tax back after you file a tax return.
Myth check
MythThe income tax is unconstitutional, or paying it is voluntary.
FactCourts have rejected these claims many times. The Supreme Court upheld the income tax under this amendment in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad (1916).
MythThe Sixteenth Amendment created the income tax.
FactIt gave Congress the power to tax income. Congress created the modern income tax by passing a law later in 1913.
Common questions
What does the 16th Amendment say in simple terms?
Congress can tax people's income, from any source. It does not have to divide the tax among the states by population. Ratified in 1913, it made a practical federal income tax possible.
Is the income tax constitutional?
Yes. The 16th Amendment gives Congress the power to tax income. The Supreme Court upheld the federal income tax in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1916). Courts have rejected claims that the tax is unconstitutional or voluntary many times.
Did the 16th Amendment create the income tax?
No. It gave Congress the power to tax income without dividing the tax among the states. Congress created the modern income tax by passing a law later in 1913.
Why was the 16th Amendment passed?
To overcome a Supreme Court ruling. In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), the Court said a tax on income from property had to be divided among the states by population. That made a practical income tax impossible.
Go deeper
The scene · 1913
In 1895, the Supreme Court struck down a federal income tax. It said the tax had to be divided among the states by population, which does not work for a tax on income. At the time, the government got much of its money from tariffs, which raised prices on goods everyone bought. Reformers wanted a tax based on what people earned, and the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913.
Back then
Congress taxed income during the Civil War, then let the tax end. In 1894 it passed a new income tax, and the Supreme Court struck it down the next year. For almost 20 years after that ruling, Congress could not tax income in a practical way.
Words that changed
- “apportionment”
ThenDividing something among the states by population, as with seats in the House.
NowSame meaning. A tax divided this way would charge more total to states with more people, no matter how much those people earned.
Key cases
- 1895
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
A federal tax on income from property, such as rent and investments, had to be divided among the states by population.
- 1916
Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
The federal income tax law of 1913 was constitutional under the Sixteenth Amendment.
- 2024
Moore v. United States
Congress could tax American shareholders on a foreign company's income that the company earned but did not pay out to them.
More history and context
The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1913. It overcame Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895). That ruling said a federal tax on income from property was a direct tax that had to be divided among the states by population. Dividing an income tax that way would not work, because people in different states earn different amounts.
The amendment did not create the income tax. Congress created the modern income tax by passing a law later in 1913. The amendment removed the constitutional barrier that had blocked a practical federal income tax for almost 20 years.
Today the individual income tax is the largest single source of federal money. In Moore v. United States (2024), the Court upheld a tax on American shareholders of certain foreign companies. It did not decide whether income must be received before it can be taxed.
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