Tax protester
From RationalWiki
Tax protester is a general category to describe anyone who does not believe they are required to pay various taxes. The most commonly disputed tax (in the US) is the income tax. In the United States, tax protesters tend to be largely middle-class conservatives with a libertarian bent. The term "tax protester," while the preferred nomenclature, is somewhat misleading. In more common parlance they might be called tax deniers. Individuals who protest taxes for one reason or another, while not denying the government's right to tax, are called tax resisters.
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[edit] Methodology
Tax protesters use pseudolaw and follow many of the same methods as creationists and other denialists in advocating their ideas, including: cherry picking data, pseudohistory, quote mining, and deception. There is actually a strong link between tax protesting and creationist movements, as well as the birthers, militia movement and some white supremacy groups. In November 2006 Kent Hovind, an infamous peddler of creationism, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for not paying income tax [1]. Many people have made a lot of money selling various schemes for avoiding having to pay taxes. Thousands of videos, books and conferences are offered every year that promise to cure you of a tax burden for a price. One example is that of Irwin Schiff and his site paynoincometax.com who was sentenced to jail in 2005 for his activities [2]. Not a single argument ever presented by a tax protester has ever been accepted by a court of law as valid.
Tax protesters should be distinguished from tax resisters, who do not deny the government's right to levy taxes, but refuse to pay as a matter of principle, due to their opposition to specific government policies (opposition to public schooling or defense spending are common tropes). Such protesters are rather less likely to espouse right-libertarian politics; some are, indeed, extreme liberals. Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience, at least when such people are willing to go to jail for the principle. One example of a tax resister is Henry David Thoreau, who refused to pay his poll tax because it supported the Mexican War, which he considered an immoral land grab.
[edit] Claims
The claims of these groups will appear in italics, refutations in regular text. [3]
- Variations on the theme that America's Founding Fathers did not believe that governments had taxation powers.
- Not true, the issue at stake was the Crown's ability to levy taxes on the American colonies, not, say, Williamsburg's ability to tax Virginians.
- That the 16th Amendment was not ratified because Ohio wasn't a state, and thus didn't get the requisite number of states to approve of it.
- This argument relies on a slight technicality that Congress forgot to pass a resolution declaring Ohio a state in 1803 and that Ohio only became a state in 1953. If this were true, than why did Ohioans have Senators and Congressmen? Also it would not have mattered any way since 41 other states ratified it anyway with the minimum being 36.
- It violates the 13th Amendment's prohibition of "involuntary servitude."
- Variants on claims like there is no law for an income tax or that the Internal Revenue Code does not actually say income.
- There are in fact several laws saying what is and is not taxable.
- Income taxes are voluntary.
- Stems from a misreading of a case where somebody did not file his 1040, but then demanded his full refund. Voluntary in this case actually means that the person has to go and calculate it him or herself, otherwise, no refund, or massive audit.
[edit] Cases
Gordon Kahl was a tax protester associated with the Posse Comitatus movement who died in a 1983 shootout with Arkansas police. Law enforcement had attempted to arrest him outside of his homwtown of Medina, North Dakota but he (or two others with him) shot two U.S. marshals and he fled in a stolen Medina police car to Arkansas, where he died four months later in another shootout with law enforcement. Kahl had failed to pay income taxes for several years and had previously (1977) spent eight months in prison on tax evasion charges; the attempted 1983 arrest was for violation of his parole by continuing to fail to file his federal taxes. The exact order of events during the Medina shootout is hotly disputed with Medina's local police officers offering a different version than federal marshals, and Medina police and federal marshals each blaming the other for botching the arrest.[4]
Aaron Russo (d. 27 August 2007), an "independent" filmmaker who owed taxes in three states, released a documentary called America: Freedom to Fascism[5], which has become a rallying cry for many tax protesters. Russo unquestionably regurgitated all of the classic arguments, misconceptions and lies.
In 2007 a major standoff occurred in the town of Plainfield, NH, between convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown and the federal government. The Browns sealed themselves up in their fortified compound of a home and promised the "next Waco" if the government tried to arrest them. Tax protesters and other anti-government cranks, including Randy Weaver of Ruby Ridge fame, flocked to the Browns' residence to bring guns and supplies. [6] The Browns were taken into custody without incident on 4 October 2007 by US Marshals posing as supporters.
Tax protesters are occasionally acquitted; for example, the June 2007 not guilty verdict against Louisiana attorney Tommy Cryer, which became something of a rallying point for the movement. Cryer did not attempt to argue there is no law making him liable for income tax. Instead, he used what has come to be known as the "cheek defense," essentially claiming that he did not know that he had to file and could not have willfully failed to file. The opinion of tax experts is that Cryer was acquitted based on an incompetent prosecution that failed to demonstrate that Cryer was aware of the need to file. Civilly, Cryer was still found to be liable for back taxes, fees, and interest and is currently raising money to pay off his taxes.
All acquittals have come from jury trials for criminal conduct. These acquittals range from Cheek defenses like Cryer to jury nullification in cases where it seems defendants have convinced a few jury members of their arguments. The important point is that "not guilty" verdicts by juries do not have anything to do with the status of the law nor are they precedent setting. No matter of law has ever been decided in favor of a tax protester and even with an acquittal for criminal conduct the civil liability of taxes has always been met.
Recently, Wesley Snipes and his lawyers got jail time for failing to pay income tax[7] and creationist Kent Hovind is currently in federal prison for not paying his taxes.
[edit] British Poll Tax
The attempt by Margaret Thatcher to tax everyone equally, without regard to income, wealth or consumption, even including the sick and unemployed, was resisted by campaigns of tax refusal from both left- and right-wing parts of society. This form of taxation was officially known as the "Community Charge", but was widely referred to as the "Poll Tax". Attempts to collect arrears using bailiffs were often met with physical resistance and several, often elderly, protestors went to jail for their refusal to pay the tax. Ultimately, a major riot in London's Trafalgar Square over the issue, and Thatcher's refusal to change her mind, led to her own party removing her from office.
Note that the Poll Tax was not a replacement for income tax: it was a tax used to fund services at a local level, and has been replaced by the current Council Tax (which is also quite unpopular[8]).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Tax Protester FAQ, considered the definitive online reference (outside the US income tax law of course) on legal arguments used by US tax protesters
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts (retrieved February 2009)
- ↑ USDOJ on Schiff
- ↑ You can learn more about bullshit at this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protester_arguments
- ↑ See It's All About Power by Darrell Graf and Steve Schnabel (ISBN 0-942323-31-9) for the Medina police version
- ↑ The video can be viewed in it's entirety at Google video.
- ↑ Union leader article on the Browns
- ↑ CNN Money: Snipes's jail time
- ↑ Unless you're a grubby student and don't have to pay it.
