Not that it was going anywhere, but Donald Trump's much-buzzed-about plan to impose a 14.25 percent wealth tax is probably unconstitutional. The Constitution originally permitted Congress to impose direct taxes only in proportion to each state's population. That's why the income tax was declared unconstitutional in 1895. The Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 changed all that. It conferred on Congress the 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." Read that again: Incomes may be taxed without apportionment. Wealth cannot. THE SCRAPBOOK suspects that The Donald's wealth is exaggerated. But surely he can still afford to employ a constitutional lawyer.
The Scrapbook
Trumping the Constitution
Not that it was going anywhere, but Donald Trump's much-buzzed-about plan to impose a 14.25 percent wealth tax is probably unconstitutional. The Constitution originally permitted Congress to impose direct taxes only in proportion to each state's population. That's why the income tax was declared…
The Scrapbook · November 22, 1999
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