Last Updated on January 29, 2025
In a newly released interview, Senator Mike Lee expressed support for President Trump’s proposal to repeal the 16th Amendment; effectively nixing the federal income tax.
When asked about President Trump’s economic proposal that would rely on the use of an “External Revenue Service” and tariffs – in place of the current income taxation system – Senator Lee encouraged the idea.
“I would love to see how it checks out mathematically, but I’d love the idea of scrapping the income tax system,” Lee said in an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson.
🚨Sen. Mike Lee ENDORSES the idea of DESTROYING the Income Tax System:
“It’s become so perverted, convoluted and opressive.. a form of tyranny. If there is another way to fund the government.. I want to explore it. We need to repeal the 16th Amendment.” pic.twitter.com/hCo3brGRuY
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 28, 2025
In 1913, the 16th Amendment was ratified; granting Congress the authority to “lay and collect taxes on incomes.” This move overturned a previous Supreme Court decision that had deemed such taxes “unconstitutional and void.” Later that same year, President Woodrow Wilson enacted the Revenue Act of 1913, establishing a more socialist-inspired federal income tax across the nation.
Contemporaneous critics of the 16th Amendment did not stay silent. In 1914, The Washington Post raised concerns, stating, “Congress went well toward the limits of its constitutional functions, in the estimation of many good lawyers, in the enactment of this law which grants inquisitorial powers that in the hands of careless officials would prove a menace to the country.”
In his interview, Lee argued that the complexity of the U.S. tax code, with its vast array of confusing rules and exceptions, opens the door for the tax system to be leveraged as a tool of political and social power.
“It’s become so perverted, so convoluted, so oppressive, and so hyper-technical that it really empowers a form of tyranny – to which the United States of America, and its inhabitants, are not accustomed, and never should be,” Lee said.
Concerns have arisen, over years, over the weaponization of the Internal Revenue Service; the federal agency responsible for enforcing and administering federal tax laws. President Nixon authorized audits and investigations targeting individuals on his infamous “Enemies List,” which included political opponents and critics.
During President Obama’s tenure, it was discovered that the IRS was used to persecute more than 427 conservative organizations, such as the Tea Party. The scandal came to light in 2013 when an IRS official revealed that the agency had been heavily scrutinizing groups with names that contained words like “Patriots” or “Liberty”.
In 2017 the IRS reached a substantial financial settlement with many of these groups who were targeted under Obama, apologizing for “heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays”.
The cost of taxation on the American people is also significant. In addition to the roughly $4.5 trillion collected each year by the IRS, the time and costs spent filing taxes is noteworthy. In 2024, American citizens collectively spent an estimated $133 billion on costs associated with filing their tax returns, as reported by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. In addition to this significant financial burden, about 6.5 billion hours were dedicated to the preparation and submission of tax documents. This time investment in tax-filing translates into costs exceeding $280 billion.
As intended, the system works to punish American citizens who fail to “cough up” what is owed. Penalties for failure to pay taxes could include compounding interest fees, hefty fines, and years in prison. It was this harsh reality that led economist Murray Rothbard to famously say, “taxation is theft.”
Throughout his campaign, and since taking the White House, President Trump has consistently voiced his concerns over the burden of federal taxation on the people; all while foreign governments make themselves rich with lop-sided trade deals, at the expense of American citizens.
The President recently took to social media, reiterating his support for the abolition of the federal income tax:
“For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the world, while taxing ourselves. It is time for that to change. I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources. We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
