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While recognizing that the federal government is one of limited and enumerated powers, the Supreme Court has held that Congress may incentivize state governments via appropriations of federal funds to adopt and enforce federal policy goals that otherwise would lay beyond the powers of the federal government directly to impose. In South Dakota v.
Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress imposed a federal income tax with the Revenue Act of 1913. The Supreme Court upheld that income tax in the 1916 case of Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., and the federal government has continued to levy an income tax since 1913.
Tariffs or customs duties on imported goods are essentially the only property taxes imposed by the U.S. federal government. Tariffs can be set only by the federal government, not by any state or local jurisdiction. A customs duty or tariff is nominally separate from an excise tax for U.S. constitutional law purposes. Excise taxes can be (and ...
Income taxes are imposed at the federal and most state levels. Taxes on property are typically imposed only at the local level, although there may be multiple local jurisdictions that tax the same property. Other excise taxes are imposed by the federal and some state governments. Sales taxes are imposed by most states and many local governments.
With 100 senators, 435 House members and one president, the incentive is to spend to please constituents — yet not impose new taxes. As a result, the U.S. government has always had a budget problem.
In addition to the federal government, many states also impose an estate tax, with the state version called either an estate tax or an inheritance tax. Since the 1990s, the term " death tax " has been widely used by those who want to eliminate the estate tax, because the terminology used in discussing a political issue affects popular opinion.
The federal government is generally prohibited from imposing direct taxes unless such taxes are then given to the states in proportion to population. Thus, ad valorem property taxes have not been imposed at the federal level. The states must grant residents of other states equal protections as taxpayers.
The Constitution empowered the federal government to raise taxes at a uniform rate throughout the nation, and required that "direct taxes" be imposed only in proportion to the Census population of each state. Federal income tax was first introduced under the Revenue Act of 1861 to help pay for the Civil War.