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Income taxes are one of the cornerstones of modern life. We all have to deal with them, we sometimes stumble on them, but they're a fixed part of the path we're all walking in our financial journey.
A big reason why income taxes are a challenge for many people is that, in the US, they're pretty complicated. Most people wind up trusting tax preparation software or handing things over to a tax preparer. It's this complexity that leads to many misunderstandings, and sometimes those misunderstandings can lead to some pretty serious financial and legal consequences.
Here are six common misunderstandings about the American income tax system, along with how you can avoid falling prey to the confusion.
This is a misunderstanding and is not true.
Income taxes are perfectly legal and even a part of our Constitution. There are many theories out there that try to dispel this, but they mostly boil down to a misunderstanding.
The basic legality of taxes of all kinds is spelled out clearly in the Constitution. From Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."
Then, Amendment 16 of the Constitution clarifies this and specifically applies it to incomes: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
Those are the foundational laws of America. You can certainly dislike those laws, and you can even work to overturn them by trying to get another amendment passed that overturns the 16th Amendment, but those are the foundational laws of the United States. IRS codes simply give the specifics of how the 16th Amendment works.
Don't fall into this trap. If someone is offering you theories on why income tax is illegal or why you don't have to pay it, ignore them. They're sharing their confusion with you or trying to mislead you for some reason. The concept of income tax is literally written into the Constitution.
This isn't true.
Whenever income brackets are shown on the news or in magazines, people inevitably seem to misunderstand what they mean. This is a common tax misunderstanding.
| Bracket | Taxpayers Filing Single | Married taxpayers Filing Jointly | Example |
| 10% | Up to$9,950 | Up to$19,900 | A single file taxpayer will only pay 10% of their income up to$9,950. |
| 12% | $9,951
|
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