Income Tax is a form of progressive taxes that is supported as a pillar in Chapter two in the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. As this article refers it as the second listed items Communists support here:
“2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.”
To add more clarity, even beyond the Communist Manifesto, the concept of a progressive tax is supported broadly among the rest of the Marxist and other Far-Left circles here:
“They support progressive taxes, both on capital and income, have a strong preference for direct over indirect taxation, and back restrictions on inheritance.”
So how was the United States duped enough to adopt and to fall for this trap?
In fact according to this article from constitutioncenter.org, our country adopted the income tax system not once, not twice but three times in its past. Our Founding Fathers would be disappointed in us as they weren’t big fans of such a tax system. Having an income tax extracting from its constituents wasn’t the way to fund the day-to-day operations for the country. Tariffs and sales taxes were the primary ways to fund our government.
The article itself explained that our Founders and its generation of leaders never intended this here:
“The Founding Fathers and the generation of leaders that followed them weren’t big on the idea of an income tax…”
So when was the first time it came to pass?
The first time an income tax was proposed was to fund war expenses for the Civil War as this article puts it:
“The first Federal income tax was levied to help pay for the Union war effort. In the summer of 1861, Salmon P. Chase reported to the Congress that he would need $320 million over the next fiscal year to finance the war.”
It started out as a flat tax for the rich as stated below. It was later repealed in 1872 for not being constitutional.
“…The bill raised existing tariffs and created new ones, instituted a tax on real estate, and, most importantly, levied the nation's first income tax: a 3% flat rate on citizens with an annual income of $800 or more.”
Keep in mind that the government only said that such a tax only applied for the wealthy to foot the bill at first. Note over time the government didn’t stop at applying it to the wealthy class. It crept up slowly to the rest of the working class people and beyond.
The Second Income Tax:
On the second income tax system, it was still then applied to higher income individuals as referenced here:
“Congress passed the 1894 Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained an income tax provision of 2% on incomes of over $4,000 (equivalent to $135,951.63 in 2022 U.S. Dollars).”
Since the first two income tax efforts were not deemed constitutional and were struck down by the courts. It was not until the third attempt that the income tax was to be backed by the ratification of the 16th amendment to the Constitution to then make it constitutional.
The Third and final attempt:
The third and final time was also framed as an excuse to tax only the top wealthy people in our country. Like many government policies and taxes, the proponents of income tax had justified it as a well-intended measure but then grew to infect the rest of the country’s citizenry once again.
As referenced here:
“In 1913, the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment effectively overturned the holding in Pollock. The Revenue Act of 1913, passed after the Sixteenth Amendment's ratification, reinstated the federal income tax.”
In turn, our nation was permanently shackled to the whims of politicians telling us what taxes we should pay. If we don’t find a way to repeal the 16th amendment then the federal government’s ability to directly tax our income will always be a present danger to true Freedom.
Not only does it disrupt and threaten our Freedoms both financially and legally but gives our government the power to de-regulate itself such as going to unnecessary wars and over-spending without accountability. We have footed the bill for whatever project the government became involved in each time the income tax was implemented.
There is some hope but can we keep it alive?
There does exist an attempt by Congress to repeal it but it remains unclear whether it will ever make it pass any chamber of Congress. The bill to repeal the 16th amendment has a long way to go to get the votes at the moment.
What are other proposals to solve this?
Amplifying that this attempt exists can accelerate the spread of awareness and support to the rest of the public. To make things more of a change I would support repealing and replacing our income tax system for a sales tax or known as a flat tax system. This and perhaps other similar measures out there would be the latest changes I would like to see implemented to eliminate an income-based tax system.
What is a Sales tax system (Flat Tax)?
Our current tax system is designed to easily be complicated and expensive enough for anyone to violate any tax codes. A sales tax is a way simpler tax system and much more easier to understand. Everyone pays the same rate regardless of income.
What are the pros and cons of a Sales tax?
Its critics will say that it’s a particularly a regressive tax meaning the poor have a higher burden of taxes. It’s an indirect consumption-based tax system rather than an income-based tax system. It’s a tax system based on the purchases of new goods and services. As stated here:
“A sales tax is a certain percentage of tax imposed by the government on the sales of goods and services. As per the law, a seller can collect some amount of sales tax from the consumers they are selling goods and services to.”
The solution in my view should be approached in a a multi-faceted way. Part of the solution is already baked into the sales tax system because it would require tarrifs to make up the any financial differences or shortfalls for the country. Plus, a sales tax system is much more simpler and easier to understand. Used goods are exempt from sales taxes since the tax only applies to new goods and services.
In addition, prior to implementing a Sales tax, government spending should not increase. Ideally, cutting government waste and expenses should dramatically be reduced.
That’s not all, having similar things passed like the Trump Tax cuts law has helped everyone as proved by the IRS the last time around as stated here:
“According to data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service comparing outcomes from 2017 to 2018—the first year the tax reform law went into effect—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced average effective income tax rates for filers in every one of the IRS’s income brackets, with the largest benefits going to lower- and middle-income households.”
The IRS themselves has admitted that the middle class has seriously benefited from tax cuts as shown further here:
“The available evidence is clear: Based on tax data from 2017 and 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes for the vast majority of filers, led to substantial improvements in upward economic mobility, and disproportionately benefited working- and middle-class households, many of which experienced tax cuts topping 18 percent to 20 percent.”
In essence implementing a Sales tax system to replace the income tax system would bring back the country’s original ways to fund itself of having an excise tax again. Funding the government the way it used to be would be an additional point to raise in addition to the simplicity and fairness of a Sales tax system.
We will no longer need the IRS or other Federal taxes that have been implemented such as payroll, estate, corporate and others because the new tax system will simply by its nature pack it all into one tax.
What’s the reality now and what’s ahead?
As long as we the income tax in place we will continue to worry about complicated tax laws and dreadful expensive penalties. Continuing to be concerned about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) metaphorically breathing down our throats and constantly watching our pockets.
So it’s up to us as taxpaying citizens of this country to change and free ourselves from the shackles of the overdue, corrupt and broken tax system. As a fellow US citizen I’m aware that an elimination of the old income tax and then replacing it isn’t promising utopia nor anywhere near that.
The changing of a tax system and setting up policies around that IS the point. It’s far more better than being stuck with the same old complicated and dreadful tax system we have today.
I would see that as an upgrade and more of a modernization effort of our tax system. Plus, it’s much more simpler to implement and easier to understand a national sales tax as it reveals through more transparency the scope and size of our government’s expenses.
For an example: If our tax rate is revealed to be of a tax rate that is too high that would incentivize voters to cut any possible government regulations, waste or costs to bring the tax rate down to a more reasonable tax rate. So having a National sales tax not only means we have a less complicated tax code but brings even more transparency of our government’s finances to address for the future.
At the end of the day it’s once again up to each one of us to be bold enough to bring about a change that is long overdue. It’s time to liberate ourselves from our current status-quo tax system one vote at a time. Through winning hearts and minds by sharing awareness and information in an effort to help ourselves and our loved ones in this country for the sake of a better future. Only then we can really improve our country’s economy to newer heights.