THE INCOME TAX AND THE NATURAL PERSON.
Abstract The article presents information on the fact that the Sixteenth Amendment 1913 was formulated to delegate power to the U.S. federal government to levy a tax on the income of natural persons. An income tax on corporations had been effective four years before the amendment. It was decided as early as 1904 that an excise tax could be measured by gross income and a corporate income tax was construed to be an excise tax for the privilege of doing business as a corporate entity. Whatever might have been the intent of the amendment or the popular belief, the income tax has not developed into a personal tax in a strict sense either in law or in other respects. The present Federal income tax is unique in the sense that it cannot be classed with any other known form. From a legal standpoint the tax does not follow the person. From an economic standpoint it does not fall on persons in proportion to their respective economic circumstances. It is neither legally nor otherwise a personal tax based on ability to pay.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-7056706
- Volume
- 16 (4)
- Pages
- 358-373
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- openalex crossref