Abstract
Informal proposals to enact a national wealth tax have been around for a while, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, while still a presidential candidate, promoted a specific form of wealth tax: a tax on the net wealth of high-net-worth individuals. Whatever the economic and ethical merits of such a proposal, this article concludes that the tax as proposed would be unconstitutional. It would be a direct tax that, if not apportioned among the states on the basis of population, would fail to meet constitutional requirements. Furthermore, if it were apportioned, it couldn’t work in the way Senator Warren wants it to.
Keywords
Wealth tax, direct tax, apportionment, indirect tax, Hylton v. United States, Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., NFIB v. Sebelius
Publication Date
2020
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
Journal of Taxation of Investments, Spring 2019, at 79
Repository Citation
Jensen, Erik M., "Is a Tax on Wealth Constitutional?" (2020). Faculty Publications. 2073.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/2073
