Unconstitutional Income Tax

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894. 215 by 145mm (8½ by 5¾ inches). Pamphlet in wrappers; 46 pp. Very good with sun discoloration to cover. Scarce pamphlet with regulations pertaining to an earlier (unconstitutional) form of income tax. The origin of the income tax is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment in 1909 and ratified 1913. However, in 1894 Congress enacted a flat rate Federal income tax (the subject of this pamphlet), which was ruled unconstitutional the following year by the U.S. Supreme Court because it was a direct tax. The 16th Amendment later removed this objection. And, as we are all well aware, the income tax remains in effect to this day. At the time of cataloguing, no other copies for sale. No auction records.