I heard from a reliable source that Mitt Romney never paid taxes…
8
I think Wesley Snipes tried this before he got sent to federal prison.
19
As a legal matter, there’s an element of truth to the assertion. Try and find a legal definition of “income” for someone who is not a resident of the District of Columbia.
As a practical matter, if you don’t play the taxation game TPTB will whack your pee-pee and throw you in prison. And take all your money and property.
13
87000 new assholes will say you do and tie you up in court for decades.
5
If an individual tried to tax another individual its called robbery. If a big enough group robs you its called taxation.
11
Back in the 70’s (1970 not 1870) the 1040 had this, “this is a voluntary tax” printed on the bottom of the page. I remember it well. It is still true, But I dare you to try it.
7
Not much different than a small business paying the mob for protection.
8
Hate the tax code or not, this is b.s.:
The Truth About Frivolous Arguments — Section I (A to C):
Any taxpayer who has received more than a statutorily determined amount of gross income in a given tax year is obligated to file a return for that tax year. Failure to file a tax return could subject the non-compliant individual to civil and/or criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. In United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986), the court stated that, “although Treasury regulations establish voluntary compliance as the general method of income tax collection, Congress gave the Secretary of the Treasury the power to enforce the income tax laws through involuntary collection. . . . The IRS’ efforts to obtain compliance with the tax laws are entirely proper.” The IRS warned taxpayers of the consequences of making this frivolous argument in Rev. Rul. 2007-20, 2007-1 C.B. 863 and in Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609.
Relevant Case Law:
Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391, 399 (1938) – the Supreme Court stated that “[i]n assessing income taxes, the Government relies primarily upon the disclosure by the taxpayer of the relevant facts. . . . in his annual return. To ensure full and honest disclosure, to discourage fraudulent attempts to evade the tax, Congress imposes [either criminal or civil] sanctions.”
United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986) – the Tenth Circuit upheld a conviction for willfully failing to file a return, stating that the premise “that the tax system is somehow ‘voluntary’ . . . is incorrect.”
United States v. Richards, 723 F.2d 646, 648 (8th Cir. 1983) – the Eighth Circuit upheld a conviction and fines imposed for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that the claim that filing a tax return is voluntary is “an imaginative argument, but totally without arguable merit.”
United States v. Hartman, 915 F. Supp. 1227, 1230 (M.D. Fla. 1996) – the court held that “[t]he assertion that the filing of an income tax return is voluntary is . . . frivolous.” The court noted that I.R.C. § 6012(a)(1)(A), “requires that every individual who earns a threshold level of income must file a tax return” and that “failure to file an income tax return subjects an individual to criminal penalty.”
If we don’t hafta pay taxes why did Vladimir Biden hire 78,000 more IRS agents?
6
I ain’t no scholar nor do I pretend to be.
My understanding has always been that taxes are to be paid on the ‘profits’ of income.
A vague term to be sure BUT, the ‘profits’ could easily be determined to be what is left over AFTER paying, food, housing, insurance, property taxes, clothing and transportation.
But that would never fly because politicians CANNOT refrain from pissing away tax-payer money on worthless shit.
5
When congress spends many times the amount of money generated by the income tax, and doesn’t even try to pass a budget to regulate that spending, why on earth does congress even care if people pay their taxes or not?
10
Remember the name Irwin Schiff? He had the attention of myself and several of my friends back in the 70’s. Fortunately for me I didn’t feel right about him. A few of my friends listened close and it cost them big.
3
@Anon 1942 — Kindly please note that all of the cases cited plainly say that failure to file a tax return or filing a return with false information was the crime. You all do note the difference between filing and paying, right? I’d still like to see a citation to where in the USC or CFR that “income” is clearly and unambiguously defined in a way that applies universally. Maybe it’s there, but what if it’s not?
I’ll repeat what I wrote earlier:
As a practical matter, if you don’t play the taxation game TPTB will whack your pee-pee and throw you in prison. And take all your money and property.
2
Al Capone might have appreciated that nugget of information as much as Wesley Snipes.
2
Snicker….
They are voluntary. When you finally get tired of paying 40% of your wages to taxes, stop working.
1
And they co-opt your employer to withhold your taxes on a regular basis. Hence the phrase “I gave at the office” :/
3
Okay -Anonymous-, but where is the legal codification stating such? Go find it, I’ll wait. BTW, income is interest and dividends. A paycheck is in exchange for labor. That’s not income. But who’s more greedy than government?
1
If you get a Social Security number, you have entered into an adhesion contract with the federal government.
Yes, if you call yourself a “taxpayer” you have admitted that you owe. Most people cannot grasp the complexities of the income tax.. case in point above.
It could at least theoretically be true but unless you want to spend tens of thousands if not hundreds thousands of dollars in court and risk spending years in jail, don’t try this at home.
The income tax will not go away, because 99% of the people in this country won’t, don’t and can’t understand or even try to understand the corporate nature of their relationship with the federal government. Common sense should tell you that the founding fathers would never have an established a system of government that created federal citizenship. National yes, state yes, but a citizen subject to federal municipal law? Ridiculous.
1
Beware of the trolls above. It’s long been known that there are people designated and ready to jump on the side of the government concerning this issue. It should be obvious.
1
I personally know an idiot who tried this and got 3 years in the pen for it.
I heard from a reliable source that Mitt Romney never paid taxes…
I think Wesley Snipes tried this before he got sent to federal prison.
As a legal matter, there’s an element of truth to the assertion. Try and find a legal definition of “income” for someone who is not a resident of the District of Columbia.
As a practical matter, if you don’t play the taxation game TPTB will whack your pee-pee and throw you in prison. And take all your money and property.
87000 new assholes will say you do and tie you up in court for decades.
If an individual tried to tax another individual its called robbery. If a big enough group robs you its called taxation.
Back in the 70’s (1970 not 1870) the 1040 had this, “this is a voluntary tax” printed on the bottom of the page. I remember it well. It is still true, But I dare you to try it.
Not much different than a small business paying the mob for protection.
Hate the tax code or not, this is b.s.:
The Truth About Frivolous Arguments — Section I (A to C):
Any taxpayer who has received more than a statutorily determined amount of gross income in a given tax year is obligated to file a return for that tax year. Failure to file a tax return could subject the non-compliant individual to civil and/or criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. In United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986), the court stated that, “although Treasury regulations establish voluntary compliance as the general method of income tax collection, Congress gave the Secretary of the Treasury the power to enforce the income tax laws through involuntary collection. . . . The IRS’ efforts to obtain compliance with the tax laws are entirely proper.” The IRS warned taxpayers of the consequences of making this frivolous argument in Rev. Rul. 2007-20, 2007-1 C.B. 863 and in Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609.
Relevant Case Law:
Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391, 399 (1938) – the Supreme Court stated that “[i]n assessing income taxes, the Government relies primarily upon the disclosure by the taxpayer of the relevant facts. . . . in his annual return. To ensure full and honest disclosure, to discourage fraudulent attempts to evade the tax, Congress imposes [either criminal or civil] sanctions.”
United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986) – the Tenth Circuit upheld a conviction for willfully failing to file a return, stating that the premise “that the tax system is somehow ‘voluntary’ . . . is incorrect.”
United States v. Richards, 723 F.2d 646, 648 (8th Cir. 1983) – the Eighth Circuit upheld a conviction and fines imposed for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that the claim that filing a tax return is voluntary is “an imaginative argument, but totally without arguable merit.”
United States v. Hartman, 915 F. Supp. 1227, 1230 (M.D. Fla. 1996) – the court held that “[t]he assertion that the filing of an income tax return is voluntary is . . . frivolous.” The court noted that I.R.C. § 6012(a)(1)(A), “requires that every individual who earns a threshold level of income must file a tax return” and that “failure to file an income tax return subjects an individual to criminal penalty.”
Other Cases:
United States v. Drefke, 707 F.2d 978 (8th Cir. 1983); United States v. Schulz PDF, 529 F. Supp. 2d 341 (N.D.N.Y. 2007); Foryan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-114, 109 T.C.M. (CCH) 1591 (2015); Jones v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-101, 107 T.C.M. (CCH) 1495 (2014).
https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/the-truth-about-frivolous-arguments-section-i-a-to-c
If we don’t hafta pay taxes why did Vladimir Biden hire 78,000 more IRS agents?
I ain’t no scholar nor do I pretend to be.
My understanding has always been that taxes are to be paid on the ‘profits’ of income.
A vague term to be sure BUT, the ‘profits’ could easily be determined to be what is left over AFTER paying, food, housing, insurance, property taxes, clothing and transportation.
But that would never fly because politicians CANNOT refrain from pissing away tax-payer money on worthless shit.
When congress spends many times the amount of money generated by the income tax, and doesn’t even try to pass a budget to regulate that spending, why on earth does congress even care if people pay their taxes or not?
Remember the name Irwin Schiff? He had the attention of myself and several of my friends back in the 70’s. Fortunately for me I didn’t feel right about him. A few of my friends listened close and it cost them big.
@Anon 1942 — Kindly please note that all of the cases cited plainly say that failure to file a tax return or filing a return with false information was the crime. You all do note the difference between filing and paying, right? I’d still like to see a citation to where in the USC or CFR that “income” is clearly and unambiguously defined in a way that applies universally. Maybe it’s there, but what if it’s not?
I’ll repeat what I wrote earlier:
Al Capone might have appreciated that nugget of information as much as Wesley Snipes.
Snicker….
They are voluntary. When you finally get tired of paying 40% of your wages to taxes, stop working.
And they co-opt your employer to withhold your taxes on a regular basis. Hence the phrase “I gave at the office” :/
Okay -Anonymous-, but where is the legal codification stating such? Go find it, I’ll wait. BTW, income is interest and dividends. A paycheck is in exchange for labor. That’s not income. But who’s more greedy than government?
If you get a Social Security number, you have entered into an adhesion contract with the federal government.
Yes, if you call yourself a “taxpayer” you have admitted that you owe. Most people cannot grasp the complexities of the income tax.. case in point above.
It could at least theoretically be true but unless you want to spend tens of thousands if not hundreds thousands of dollars in court and risk spending years in jail, don’t try this at home.
Back in 1996 A large group of NYC employees were arrested for this scam including 1 Correction officer that was arrested at roll call.
.
600 City Employees Suspected in a Plot For Evading Taxes
.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/18/nyregion/600-city-employees-suspected-in-a-plot-for-evading-taxes.html
.
The income tax will not go away, because 99% of the people in this country won’t, don’t and can’t understand or even try to understand the corporate nature of their relationship with the federal government. Common sense should tell you that the founding fathers would never have an established a system of government that created federal citizenship. National yes, state yes, but a citizen subject to federal municipal law? Ridiculous.
Beware of the trolls above. It’s long been known that there are people designated and ready to jump on the side of the government concerning this issue. It should be obvious.
I personally know an idiot who tried this and got 3 years in the pen for it.