Abolish the income tax scam!

Economy
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1

We need to permanently delete the income tax scam, and we need to revoke the 16th Amendment, even though technically it makes no difference because the income tax is illegal and unconstitutional, and it’s the biggest scam in the history of the world.
But we also need to abolish the IRS; that no longer needs to be a government agency. If we truly want to be a free country again, we cannot have the IRS at all!
Income tax cripples the everyday American. Business people can make it work to their advantage. Rich people can even leverage it. The poor income normally doesn’t have to pay in, so they don’t think about it, but the middle class is hurt tremendously by income tax, and it needs to be abolished, especially since they don’t use the income tax for anything good.
There is not one law that states you have to pay income tax, but it is implied through all the government services, hence the biggest scam in history.
The U.S. tax system fundamentally divides taxes into two main types: direct and indirect. Direct taxes apply directly to individuals and property, such as land and head (or capitation) taxes, and must follow strict constitutional rules of apportionment. Meanwhile, indirect taxes, which include duties, imposts, and excises, are based on transactions or privileges and must be uniform across the country.

The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, allowed Congress to collect taxes on income without the requirement for apportionment. However, the amendment didn’t create new taxing power but clarified income tax as a type of excise tax, meaning it only applies when individuals engage in certain privileges granted by the government. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that income tax is an excise on privileged activities—not on general labor or earnings.

Court cases have reinforced that only foreign persons and U.S. citizens working abroad are subject to withholding income tax directly. Most Americans are unaware of this distinction, leading many to pay taxes under the assumption that all earnings are taxable. However, Supreme Court rulings suggest that working and earning a living are natural rights, not privileges subject to excise taxes.

The federal government is primarily restricted to foreign matters, with states holding power over domestic affairs. Federal taxing authority over individual Americans working domestically was never explicitly granted, making the broad application of income tax on U.S. citizens questionable. This information highlights a systemic misunderstanding or misapplication of tax law, affecting millions of Americans.

My vote is to permanently delete the income tax anywhere it’s implied and discontinue the IRS.

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Joe, I’d bet you’ll make a lot of friends with your argument and your solution - me included. By the way, it is the 16th Amendment that authorizes adoption of an income tax. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. Actually, the first income tax in America was enacted to help the North pay for the Civil War, but it was subsequently repealed. Thereafter the government used tariffs and excise tax to pay for its operating expenses. So, in effect we had a national sales tax - and that actually generated a surplus. But, as government grew it needed more revenue, so the 16th Amendment was enacted. Again, by the way, when a constitutional amendment authorizes and action, that action can no longer be considered “unconstitutional” – it can only be very unpopular! As you point out, wealthy people and corporations often find ways to avoid paying substantial taxes … but they do so by using the very tax laws enacted by the government. That’s why I laugh each time some politician demands the rich “pay their fair share!” They are paying exactly what the politicians told them to pay - the problem is in the tax code, which is a creation of Congress.

I hope you win your fight!

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Thank you for that, yes it’s definitely started with the 16th amendment but again if you go through the tax laws you can’t find one that says the average person working and living in the us has to pay income tax. The U.S. tax system divides taxes into two main types: direct and indirect. Direct taxes apply directly to individuals and property, such as land and head (or capitation) taxes, and must follow strict constitutional rules of apportionment. Meanwhile, indirect taxes, which include duties, imposts, and excises, are based on transactions or privileges and must be uniform across the country.

The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, allowed Congress to collect taxes on income without the requirement for apportionment. However, the amendment didn’t create new taxing power but clarified income tax as a type of excise tax, meaning it only applies when individuals engage in certain privileges granted by the government. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that income tax is an excise on privileged activities—not on general labor or earnings.

Court cases have reinforced that only foreign persons and U.S. citizens working abroad are subject to withholding income tax directly. Most Americans are unaware of this distinction, leading many to pay taxes under the assumption that all earnings are taxable. However, Supreme Court rulings suggest that working and earning a living are natural rights, not privileges subject to excise taxes.

The federal government is primarily restricted to foreign matters, with states holding power over domestic affairs. Federal taxing authority over individual Americans working domestically was never explicitly granted, making the broad application of income tax on U.S. citizens questionable. This information highlights a systemic misunderstanding or misapplication of tax law, affecting millions of Americans.

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Hello, Joe. An amendment to the Constitution effectively expands or alters the previous version of the Constitution. An amendment is not a statute - it is superior to any inconsistent acts of Congress. Once adopted … it IS the Constitution thereafter. The plain text of the 16th Amendment does, in fact, create the power to tax income from whatever source derived, and does so without the need to apportion the burden of the new income tax among the states on the basis of population.

“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 other words, a new federal authority to tax individual income directly was enacted by adoption of the 16th Amendment, and it could be applied to each individual citizen regardless of his state of residence.

Your analysis might be overlooking the chronology of tax litigation in America. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of enacting an income tax. The landmark case was Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. in 1895. The Court ruled that the federal income tax of 1894 was unconstitutional because it was considered a direct tax that needed to be apportioned according to state population, as required by the Constitution. However, this decision was effectively overturned by the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, which gave Congress the power to levy taxes on income from any source without apportioning it among the states. This amendment made the federal income tax system we know today possible.

One lingering problem with income tax in America is congressional tinkering. In order to encourage certain behavior by tax payers, government has crafted a labyrinth of tax avoidance schemes that make payment of income tax so daunting most people consider it a form of punishment for the crime of earning money.

I would love to discover one day that I don’t owe income tax any longer - but I’m not holding my breath.

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A flat tax or National Sales Tax are preferable. We need a revenue stream that’s much easier to use and enforce. The current tax regime isn’t that.

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Stop making widows file as “single” which automatically bumps them up to the highest tax bracket.
Also the maximum contributions to retirement accounts and HSA’s needs to be increased.
WE ARE BEING TAXED TO DEATH.
Stop sending our money to other countries and let’s take care of our own. It’s time our government starting taking care of the AMERICAN citizens.

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