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0 pointsduped1mo ago0 comments

The opinion should merely read

> The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises

(which it does, and expounds upon)

0 comments

zeroonetwothree1mo ago

Yes but in practice they delegate this power to the executive. Congress doesn’t run the IRS themselves after all

dragonwriter1mo ago

> Yes but in practice they delegate this power to the executive.

No, they do not delegate the power to lay (set) taxes to the executive, they do assign the executive the function of collecting the taxes laid by Congress.

> Congress doesn’t run the IRS themselves after all

The IRS doesn't freely set taxes, it collects the taxes set by Congress.

Spivak1mo ago

The moment Congress authorizes that the Executive may use discretion then the Executive can effectively levy taxes. They may be wielding a bat owned by someone else, but who swings it is ultimately what's important.

Now I'm generally of the opinion that Congress shouldn't be allowed to give the Executive discretion but seems no one agrees with that and Congress would rather let the Executive write "not quite laws" on their behalf.

davorak1mo ago

> No, they do not delegate the power to lay (set) taxes to the executive, they do assign the executive the function of collecting the taxes laid by Congress.

The quote from the constitution is "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes," not for the executive to collect taxes. If they can delegate collecting to IRS in the executive branch, why not can they not delegate the "Power To lay" taxes?

joshuamorton1mo ago

They don't delegate the policymaking. Tax code is always congressionally approved, and I'm unaware of any even remote argument that changing tax policy is delegated to the executive.

OTOH enforcement of congressional policies is basically always the role of the executive, so the fact that the IRS exists and does things doesn't really impact delegation.

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