Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. 1895

Was the federal income tax of 1894 a direct tax that had to be apportioned among the states?

158 U.S. 601 (1895)Federal and state powerSuperseded by the Sixteenth Amendment

The question: Was the federal income tax of 1894 a direct tax that had to be apportioned among the states?
What the Court held: Yes, as to taxes on income from property, and the tax was struck down as a whole.
The vote: 5–4
Answered by amendment: The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified 1913: Congress may tax incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the states.
Era: The Gilded Age
Read the opinion: 158 U.S. 601 (1895), full text

This page summarizes the Court’s judgment in neutral terms. The opinion, concurrences and dissents are the authority; read them for the reasoning.