[I am pleased to pass along this guest post from Professor Rob Natelson, a leading originalist scholar whose work is frequently cited in Supreme Court opinions.]
The Supreme Court's June 20 decision in Moore v. United States continues the long-standing controversy over the Constitution's distinction between "direct" and "indirect" taxes. Writing for the Court, Justice Brett Kavanagh stated that "Generally speaking, direct taxes are those taxes imposed on persons or property" while indirect levies are "imposed on activities and transactions." Apparently based on that standard, he concluded that income taxes are indirect.
In her concurring opinion, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote, "[I]t appears the category [of direct taxes] was originally intended to encompass only land and head taxes."
