Sixteenth Amendment granted power to levy what?

Sixteenth Amendment granted power to levy what?

• A. Income tax by Congress
• B. Prohibition of alcohol
• C. Direct election of senators
• D. Women’s suffrage

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that the Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to levy an income tax. It changed the constitutional rule by allowing a federal tax on individual and corporate incomes without needing to apportion the tax among the states, which had blocked such taxes under earlier rulings like the Pollock decision. This created a steady, flexible revenue source for the federal government, helping fund reforms and programs during the Progressive Era and beyond, rather than relying mainly on tariffs and excises. The other options point to different constitutional changes: Prohibition of alcohol came from the Eighteenth Amendment, direct election of senators from the Seventeenth Amendment, and women’s suffrage from the Nineteenth Amendment.

The main idea is that the Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to levy an income tax. It changed the constitutional rule by allowing a federal tax on individual and corporate incomes without needing to apportion the tax among the states, which had blocked such taxes under earlier rulings like the Pollock decision. This created a steady, flexible revenue source for the federal government, helping fund reforms and programs during the Progressive Era and beyond, rather than relying mainly on tariffs and excises. The other options point to different constitutional changes: Prohibition of alcohol came from the Eighteenth Amendment, direct election of senators from the Seventeenth Amendment, and women’s suffrage from the Nineteenth Amendment.