Income taxes harm investment. Investment drives businesses, who use this money to improve their efficiency, expand services, and/or hire more employees. When a business expands, it increases other business’ income and helps raise employment. The source of investment is the savings derived from wages and labor. On a personal level, income taxes harm personal financial growth and small businesses. Eliminating income tax increases savings and consumption

The Founders who designed our Constitution sought to balance the power of the federal government against the states in order to keep both in check. The national government originally prohibited collecting taxes from individuals. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states: "No capitation, or other direct Tax, shall be laid unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration." This meant that the federal government could collect revenue from the states according to population, but had to leave the methods of collection to them. The federal government was to collect revenue in other, less intrusive ways (tariffs, excise taxes, consumption taxes) so as to limit the amount of money it could raise by its own authority.

For many of the Founders, the very idea of taxing individuals (as opposed to objects, as with a sales tax) was highly offensive. These "capitations" or "head taxes" were regarded as options of last resort, only to be imposed in war or other emergency. The first federal income tax was imposed during the Civil War; it was soon repealed. It was not until the 1890s did Congress assess a peacetime income tax. The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1895. Referring to the explicit prohibition against direct taxation in Article I, the court argued that the income tax would excessively enhance federal power in relation to state power.

Prior to the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, there was no permanent national income tax. Since ratification, the government has grown exponentially bigger and spent increasingly more money. It’s no coincidence that the increased growth came after the income tax. Almost everyone agrees that the government has too much power and should be scaled back. One way to do this is to starve the beast by abolishing the income tax.

Abolishing the income tax would still leave many areas in which the federal government could collect revenue for its proper functions, like defense, while limiting its ability to overreach. Almost everyone agrees that the government has too much power and should be scaled back. One way to do this is to starve the beast by abolishing the income tax.