Today’s income tax is almost unrecognizable from the relatively low rates that the government used to impose. It’s hard to believe that the system in place now evolved from this. But then again, it really isn’t. Once you let the government get their foot in the door it’s all over. Opening up a new revenue stream for them with the income tax was bound to turn out this way. That’s why the income tax never should have been ratified in the first place. 103 years of the income tax increasing would inevitably get us to a point wherein governments take a majority of our income.

Who doesn’t wish that we could have locked in those income tax rates from 100 years ago? Everyone who made under $95,802 a year would pay zero income tax, the top tax rate was only 7%, and that only kicked in after $11.8 million in income. Think of the economic output that we would be able to produce with almost all of our own money staying in our own pockets. It’s hard to conceive. Americans would be so much freer if the income tax amendment specified rates and needed to be amended each time they were to be increased.

The Federal government might still be at a manageable size if that were the case. With only $17.1 Billion in revenue – in today’s dollars – that would mean the government would be less than a tenth the size it is today. That amount is equivalent to a small state’s budget. Of course, they get other revenues as well but in total the budget would still be half the size it is today. There would be few responsibilities for the Federal government besides maintaining a national defense – which is what the Founders intended. The most interaction the public would have with the Feds would be using the Post Office.

Besides the old income tax rates the fewer pages of the tax code were the biggest plus. Those mere 400 pages would have made it possible for the average person to do their own taxes. There wouldn’t be thousands of pages of complicated deductions and loopholes for cronies. Citizens would be able to understand exactly how much they owe and why. That simply isn’t possible with today’s 75,000 page tax code.

Perhaps the worst part of the income tax is the enormous Federal government it has allowed. Without the income tax they wouldn’t be able to fund half of the bureaucracy that hinders our economy and abuses our rights. Big government is not possible without an income tax and that is why it’s one of the most important things to repeal.

This isn’t a pipe dream; the income tax can be repealed. It’s a Constitutional Amendment and can therefore be repealed with another Amendment. This has already been done with the 21st Amendment which repealed the 18th Amendment – Prohibition. It is unlikely that this will ever happen but it is necessary if we want to get back to the freedom and prosperity our country once enjoyed. With the right support for alternative taxation repealing the income tax is possible. One thing is certain though, we do not want another 103 years of the income tax increasing as it has thus far. That would be a disaster.