Which amendment gave Congress the power to levy an income tax?

• A. Amendment 18
• B. Amendment 16
• C. Amendment 19
• D. Amendment 14

Answer: (B)

The key idea is identifying which amendment actually authorizes Congress to levy an income tax. The Sixteenth Amendment does this explicitly, ratified in 1913. It states that Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. This settled earlier constitutional questions about taxing income and allowed a federal income tax system to operate independently of state populations.

Other amendments deal with different issues: one established nationwide prohibition, another guaranteed women’s suffrage, and another addresses citizenship and equal protection under the law—none of these grant the federal government the authority to tax income.