The 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution before the Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging the legality of the mandatory repatriation tax, or MRT, which imposes a one-time tax on offshore investment income.

NPR's Nina Totenberg has two pieces about this case which is noteworthy because of the implications a decision will have on many more important parts of the system of federal taxation made possible by the 16th Amendment of the Constitution. Totenberg's first presentation, before the case was argued before the Court, presents the facts of the case and explains what the legal questions are. 6 min. 56 sec. transcript available. Her second reports on what happened during oral arguments. 3 min. 48 sec. transcript available.

A serious mistake in the transcript is found at the end when transcribing the Solicitor General's remarks. The transcript has her saying said that a realization requirement is "inaccurate, profoundly historical and consistent with the text of the 16th Amendment...". In fact she characterised the requirement as "ahistorical, inconsistent with the text of the 16th Amendment". Quite a difference!