The 16th Amendment, passed which allows congress to levy an income tax to the federal government, was imposed in 1909 in place of tariffs that were believed to unfairly tax the poor. While one might dispute the merits of this, the 16th Amendment itself was done in large part to shift the tax burden onto wealthier individuals.
Today, there are seven income tax brackets, an entire agency of tax collecting, and 550 pages of tax code under U.S. Code title 26. In 2024, the U.S. Government earned 4.9 trillion, spent 6.7 trillion dollars, holds a deficit of 1.8 trillion, and a debt of 35.9 trillion. 49% of that revenue for the first part of the 2024 year was gained from Income tax.
This method of spending essentially makes the tax-paying citizen into a collateral commodity to the 35.9 trillion in debt. Further, the more income one makes, the higher they are taxed, lowering the incentives to obtain a higher station in life.
In this manner, it imposes an undue burden on the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, the citizen is burdened to pay for a shamelessly negligent federal governmental budget that has no apparent mathematical equation to resolve this debt.
In repealing the 16th Amendment, this burden can be shifted back to the Tariff system, in which other countries can be taxed on their imports and exports as a primary source of revenue. This would further incentivize an increase in American manufacturing, which in-turn would increase American jobs. It will increase costs of goods from overseas, no doubt. At least originally. However, this will be offset by the influx of income not removed by the federal government from the tax-paying citizen’s paycheck.