Posted on 03/23/2026 5:41:55 AM PDT by RandFan
@DineshDSouza
He hasn’t paid income tax in over 30 years and claims he hasn’t gone to jail because Americans are not legally required to file…..
@PeterSchiff
My father also said, “Show me the law.” He coined the term “confession” to describe the 1040. Though the government never showed him any law that required him to pay income taxes or file an income tax confession, corrupt judges orchestrated convictions to protect the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
I have Irwin Schiff’s in storage somewhere. He made a compelling point back in the day, but the reality is that DC needs its pound of flesh (see Whiskey Rebellion), so the 16th has to be repealed to remove the fig leaf.
It’s about filing, not paying taxes. If you don’t file, the IRS will do it for you if they think you owe more than they have already gotten from you in withholdings. You file to get money back if you think you’ve overpaid. The system is perfect for Cloward-Piven if enough people participated.
Not paying what the IRS determines that you owe, which is tax evasion, is illegal. The amount owed determines whether the violation becomes civil or criminal. Snipes owed $10M. Tax avoidance, which could be you claiming excessive deductions that the IRS could deny and then you would owe taxes for, or fight in tax court, is not illegal, until you become delinquent on what you finally owe.
I’ve never researched this specific subject. But I do know, Congress has over the decades passed numerous laws relating to income taxes. It’s hard for me to believe someone is trying to make the case, that there is no law about income taxes or compelling us to pay such taxes.
We can all debate what we think of various taxes. We have the debates like that all the time here on Free Republic.
But it seems unbelievable for somebody to say there is no law that says you have to pay your income taxes , and or file your tax returns.
There is an income threshold. All you have to do is have little income. Keep in mind, the IRS knows your income and know what you withheld. If they owe you money, they don’t care. You are just a sucker to them. A large number of lawyers follow this strategy. If you owe them money, they will go after your bank accounts. If you owe them a lot of money or make a big stink (like Irwin), they will declare you a “tax protester” and send you to prison after fining you.
If you can go to jail for not filing, then you are required to file.
Now if the IRS finds income that you didn’t report in a filing, that is illegal and all bets are off.
Or Al Capone.
Then we have the sleazy outliers like Al Sharpton.
The 16th A:
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
The trick is in the word “power”. It’s the word that allows Congress to do whatever it wants here. Force you to pay 90% of your income. Force you to hand over documents upon request. Etc.
That power is way too sweeping. I don’t like it one bit. But no court anywhere would challenge it. They like things just they way they are.
“...judges orchestrated convictions to protect the government.”
Yeah. Their paychecks come from the government.
“””””This is a fun fact but there is apparently no actual law to file for federal income tax? Peter Schiff’s father Irwin wrote a book on it and was made an example of but he insisted to his dying day that there is allegedly no law or requirement to file!”””””
Have you ever filed income taxes in this country, or been required to?
The average person doesn’t have the money to fight it.
They would be papered/fee’d/lawyered to oblivion.
It’s cheaper and easier to pay what the your calculations determine you owe.
A cost of doing business passed on to customers.
Try this at your own risk. The goons with guns will, I absolutely guarantee, not be impressed with your arguments.
Laws? We don’t need no stinking’ laws!
Yep. Later amendments override earlier amendments, or original text. See also the 17th Amendment. See also the 21st Amendment.
26 U.S.C. § 6011/6012
General rule
When required by regulations prescribed by the Secretary any person made liable for any tax imposed by this title, or with respect to the collection thereof, shall make a return or statement according to the forms and regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Every person required to make a return or statement shall include therein the information required by such forms or regulations.
Some judiciaries will back up any issue, legal or otherwise. I followed the “law” if there was one, every year I was “required” to file & stayed out of trouble that way. I can’t actually speak for the legality or illegality of this either way. Retired, not working now, & at my age the rule is “why worry”?
Well acquainted with the Whiskey Rebellion.
None of what you posted is true.
Page 8 of IRS instructions clarifies who has to file.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
26 U.S. Code § 6011(a).
The provision in Article IV, Section 2 for “people held to service or labor” was followed by Fugitive Slave laws as it should have been. Congress did not evade its responsibility to deal forthrightly with the issue of slavery. It should have done the same with such an important issue as personal income tax.
All that being said, other issues are much more important in my life, and I do not plan to open up to the IRS thrashing me.
By the way, here is a great article about Administrative Law.
The History and Danger of Administrative Law
https://constitutionclub.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/the-history-and-danger-of-administrative-law/
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