Income Tax

America was relatively tax-free in its early days. In 1862 the first income tax was levied to pay for the Civil War. In 1895, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an income tax was unconstitutional. In 1913, however, the same year the Federal Reserve System was created, the Sixteenth Amendment was passed, making an income tax permanent. The reason for the reinstatement of the income tax was to capitalize the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve. Now the rich could put their hands in our pockets via taxes permanently.

— Robert Kiyosaki; Rich Dad's Conspiracy of The Rich

It is also important to note that prior to 1913, there was no income tax in America. The income tax was established to provide the government with enough cash to pay the interest due to the Federal Reserve. So, in essence, the Fed is responsible for both the silent tax of inflation and the overt income tax that takes money out our pockets and puts it into the pockets of the rich.

— Robert Kiyosaki; Rich Dad's Conspiracy of The Rich