Also known as: income taxes · income taxation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A levy on the earnings or profits of individuals and businesses. The levy is collected through returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service and varies according to income levels and filing status.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
India Inoue declined to purchase health insurance for the year. The IRS assessed a monetary exaction against her when she filed her annual return. The exaction scaled with her household income and filing status and was projected to generate substantial federal revenue. Because the payment operated like an income tax despite its statutory label, the exaction qualified as a tax for constitutional purposes.
Ines Ibarra was convicted of willfully attempting to evade income taxes. The state bar initiated disciplinary proceedings based solely on the conviction. The conviction alone established conduct reflecting adversely on honesty and fitness to practice, so discipline followed regardless of the criminal sentence imposed.
Ibrahim Iqbal refused to pay a portion of his income taxes because he believed the revenue funded activities contrary to his faith. The government enforced the full tax liability. The neutral tax collection scheme remained enforceable despite the religious objection.
After Isaac Boggs died, his widow placed a lump-sum pension distribution into an IRA. The rollover deferred recognition of income tax on the amount transferred. The transaction preserved the tax-deferred status of the pension proceeds under federal income tax rules.
Icarus Aviation paid required Social Security taxes on employee wages. The company challenged the tax as exceeding congressional power. The tax was sustained as a valid exercise of the taxing power to provide for the general welfare.
Iris Irons acquired property subject to a mortgage. When she later sold the property, her adjusted basis for computing taxable gain included the full amount of the mortgage. The inclusion of the debt in basis determined the amount of gain subject to income tax.
A monetary exaction functions as a tax when it is collected by the IRS with income tax returns, varies with income and filing status, and is expected to raise substantial revenue. The constitutional characterization turns on the measure's practical operation and effect rather than its statutory label.
Supporting sources
…belief.” Id. , at 260. Cf. Hernandez v. Commissioner , 490 U. S. 680 (1989) (rejecting free exercise challenge to payment of income taxes alleged to make religious activities more difficult). The only decisions in which we have held that the First Amendment bars application of a neutral, generally applicable law to…