---
title: "Sixteenth Amendment — Definition & Meaning | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Sixteenth Amendment refers to the 1913 US amendment for federal income tax and a 2014 change in Bangladesh regarding Supreme Court judges."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/sixteenth-amendment"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Sixteenth Amendment denotes two distinct constitutional changes—the 1913 US amendment authorising a federal income tax and Bangladesh's 2014 amendment empowering Parliament to remove Supreme Court judges.
- What did the US Sixteenth Amendment (1913) accomplish?
- Why was Bangladesh's Sixteenth Amendment, 2014, declared unconstitutional?
- Which constitutional article did the Bangladeshi Sixteenth Amendment alter?
- How should candidates avoid confusing the two Sixteenth Amendments?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 3 February 1913

   In the United States, the Sixteenth Amendment, ratified on , empowers Congress "to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without ap…

2. 3 July 2017

   Asaduzzaman Siddiqui\* (), declared the amendment unconstitutional, holding that it violated the doctrines of separation of powers and judicial independence f…

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Example

In \*Bangladesh v. Asaduzzaman Siddiqui\* (2017), the Appellate Division under Chief Justice S.K. Sinha struck down the Sixteenth Amendment, ruling that parliamentary removal of judges breached the Constitution's basic structure.

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