A: |
Yes, the FairTax plan does foresee the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, but, no, procedurally the repeal cannot be included in the text of H.R 25. Let me explain.
The Sixteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, gave the Congress explicit authority to enact income taxes, because the Supreme Court ruled, in its 1895 Pollack v. Farmer’s Loan Company decision, that such direct income taxes were unconstitutional. While some legal scholars argue that an income tax could have been legal even in the absence of the Sixteenth Amendment, I certainly believe that the repeal of the Amendment is an important symbolic and functional step in returning power over taxation to the people.
The FairTax, H.R. 25, cannot include legislative text to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment. To become law, the FairTax simply needs a simple majority approval by both the House and Senate and the signature of the President. A repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment requires a House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res) and the approval by two-thirds of the U.S. House, two-thirds of the U.S. Senate, and three quarters of the 50 states--the standard that all constitutional amendments must meet for passage. Therefore, we must move legislation that repeals the Sixteenth Amendment separately from H.R. 25.
If the FairTax is enacted, I expect that the Congress and states would promptly begin consideration of legislation to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment. To make certain that occurs, however, I am in favor of adding language to H.R. 25 during the 111th Congress that includes a sunset provision, meaning that either we succeed in repealing the Sixteenth Amendment within 5 years after the implementation of the FairTax or the FairTax goes away. In my view, we simply cannot risk having both a national income tax and a national sales tax in place at the same time. |
