Which amendment established the federal income tax?

• A. Seventeenth Amendment
• B. Eighteenth Amendment
• C. Nineteenth Amendment
• D. Sixteenth Amendment

Answer: (D)

The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, established the federal income tax by giving Congress the power to levy taxes on income without apportionment among the states. This clarified and expanded federal revenue power beyond the earlier idea that taxes had to be apportioned or based on census quotas, which had limited income taxes before this change. It also addressed the effect of previous Supreme Court rulings that had blocked income taxes as direct taxes lacking apportionment, allowing a modern, ongoing source of federal revenue that supported government programs and, later, wartime needs.

The other amendments mentioned deal with completely different issues: choosing senators, prohibiting alcohol, and securing women’s suffrage. They do not create or authorize the federal income tax, so they fit less with the question of how the income tax began.