The Movement to Destroy the Income Tax and the IRS: Who is Doing It and How They Are Succeeding

Abstract

The passage of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913 enabled the federal government to enact a progressive federal income tax, thereby acquiring a new source of funds, although the federal income tax initially was fairly limited in scope. From 1913 until 1941, when the United States entered World War II, only a small number of Americans paid the income tax. It was, in effect, a class tax only paid by those at the very top of the income brackets. When the United States entered World War II the federal income tax was expanded so that most citizens paid something towards it and, after the cessation of hostilities, the federal income tax remained in place as a mass tax. Not only did the general public pay the federal income tax, but taxpayers felt that the income tax system was fair. A Gallup poll taken during World War II revealed that eight out of ten Americans felt that their taxes were fair. Further, as the tax was expanded it became a major source of revenue for the federal government during and after World War II, thereby enabling the federal government to grow in size and power.