Mannlicher,
If Article One, section 8 of our Constitution states that "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes", why was the
16th Amendment necessary? Since the 16th Amendment does exist, if it is shown to be unratified does that mean congress does not have the "power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration."?
Here's one answer16th Amendment
In 1895, in the Supreme Court case of Pollock v Farmer's Loan and Trust (157 U.S. 429), the Court disallowed a federal income tax. The tax was designed to be an indirect tax, which would mean that states need not contribute portions of a whole relative to its census figures. The Court, however, ruled that the income tax was a direct tax and subject to apportionment. This was the last in a series of conflicting court decisions dating back to the Civil War. Between 1895 and 1909, when the amendment was passed by Congress, the Court began to back down on its position, as it became clear not only to accountants but to everyone that the solvency of the nation was in jeopardy. In a series of cases, the definition of "direct tax" was modified, bent, twisted, and coaxed to allow more taxation efforts that approached an income tax.
Finally, with the ratification of the 16th Amendment, any doubt was removed. The text of the Amendment makes it clear that though the categories of direct and indirect taxation still exist, any determination that income tax is a direct tax will be irrelevant, because taxes on incomes are explicitly to be treated as indirect. The Congress passed the Amendment on July 12, 1909, and it was ratified on February 3, 1913 (1,302 days).
BTW, US Title 26 (Internal Revenue Code (26 USC)) is not the underlying law that makes taxes legal. It is simply the tax code. What makes the code legal is Article One, section 8 and the 16th Amendment. All the arguments about direct vs indirect taxes is germane though and Article One, section 8 seems to be limited in its ability to mandate income taxes. Also, I've read some very strong arguments against the validity of the 16th Amendment's ratification. If the 16th is shown to be faulty (
http://www.givemeliberty.org/features/taxes/notratified.htm is germane) then the whole house of cards starts to break down. Whatever, I'm no lawyer and this is really convoluted.