Category: Taxes
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Taxes
Clause 4. TaxesNo Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.ResourcesNotes and ReferencesThis text about <a href="http://lawi.us/constitution-of-the-united-states-of-america-analysis-and-interpre…
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Pollock Case
From the Hylton to the Pollock CaseThe result of the Hylton case was not challenged until after the Civil War. A number of the taxes imposed to meet the demands of that war were assailed during the postwar period as direct taxes, but without result. The Court sustained successively, as "excises…
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Pollock Decision
Restriction of the Pollock DecisionThe Pollock decision encouraged taxpayers to challenge the right of Congress to levy by the rule of uniformity numerous taxes that had always been reckoned to be excises. But the Court evinced a strong reluctance to extend the doctrine to such exactions. Purporting…
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Hylton Case
The Hylton CaseThe crucial problem under clause 4 is to distinguish "direct" from other taxes. In its opinion in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., the Court declared: "It is apparent . . . that the distinction between direct and indirect taxation was well understood by the fra…
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Direct Taxes
Direct Taxes: MiscellaneousThe power of Congress to levy direct taxes is not confined to the states represented in that body. Such a tax may be levied in proportion to population in the District of Columbia.1 A penalty imposed for nonpayment of a dir…