Posted on 04/13/2007 1:08:43 PM PDT by SmithL
SANTA CRUZ -- Tax time is here again -- for most people, anyway.
Risking frozen bank accounts and even jail time, some are refusing to pay the portion of their federal income tax they believe goes to support the military and the war in Iraq. Although the IRS doesn't release information about the number of tax scofflaws -- and local accounts say they are few -- some in Santa Cruz do defy the taxman.
Scott Kennedy, in fact, has been doing it for 30 years. Kennedy, 59, a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, has not paid a full federal tax bill since the 1970s as his way to protest war and object to the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. government on bolstering defense.
"It's a valid moral stance," said Kennedy, a former Santa Cruz mayor.
"To me, it's not just an extraordinary waste of resources, but withholding taxes is part of the effort to build a more humane world community. We're happy to pay taxes for a good purpose."
Kennedy estimates that 50 percent of his federal taxes goes to the military, and he withholds that money from the check he sends the IRS when filing his return. He includes a letter explaining his actions. However, the IRS often catches up with Kennedy and demands repayment.
On a few occasions, Kennedy has had his bank accounts seized. The IRS recently garnished Kennedy's wages, which resulted in forcing his employer, the Resource Center for Nonviolence, to pay $1,548 in unpaid federal income taxes, interest and penalties for 2005. The Resource Center complied with the IRS order by issuing a check in the full amount. The money will be taken from Kennedy's wages.
Local accountants say the number of tax resisters such as Kennedy is actually pretty small. Santa Cruz tax accountant Everett Meisser says none of his clients attempt to dodge the IRS, although plenty of them are procrastinators and file for extensions.
"I've never encountered someone who asks for war tax resistance," Meisser said.
There is no law that permits taxpayers to refuse to file a tax return or not pay taxes based on an estimate of what the government spends on programs or policies with which they disagree on moral, ethical, religious or other grounds.
The courts have repeatedly rejected arguments made by tax dodgers, said Jesse Weller, a San Francisco-based spokesman for the IRS.
"Ultimately, each of us is responsible for what is on our tax return," Weller said.
"And those who don't pay their fair share increase the taxes for everyone else who file an honest and accurate return."
Still, Santa Cruz resident Alexander Gaguine is withholding $5,000 from the amount he owes the federal government this year. As he's done for the past two years, Gaguine, 57, is protesting what he sees as the "illegal war" in Iraq through his refusal to pay what he owes the government.
"If everyone stopped paying for it, we'd come home from there," he said. "I just think it's an immoral war, an illegal war."
Gaguine also had a lien put on his bank account by the IRS and has been forced to pay interest and stiff penalties.
"I didn't respond to their warnings," Gaguine said.
Penalties for snubbing tax payments can include up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, depending on how the crime is classified.
No, you asked me a frivolous question, which seems to be the only type of question you can formulate.
Sorry, I don't waste time digging around in old statutes. The USC eliminates the need to do so. Unless, of course, you can make a showing that 26 USC is somehow inconsistent with the underlying laws. Start with Public Law 83-591, 68A Stat. 3, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and work your way forward through all of the statutory amendments. Maybe you'll find something.
Good luck. Thousands of very smart criminal defense lawyers haven't been able to do it. Their clients wouldn't be sitting in prison if they could have somehow done it, so I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting for you to do it.
It's too bad that you're confused about U.S. tax law. But, that ain't my problem. At least you've stopped pimping that pile of tax protester propaganda that you call a movie.
So I take it you’re not going to answer my simple question in Post #74?
I see. So you copy and paste a bunch of amendment law and I ask you why you did it and you come back that my question is frivolous.
That’s a sign of someone that does not want to answer the question because they’ve been caught stepping in it. That’s Ok, you put out enough info here for alot more ‘frivolous’ questions.
We’ll get to those in time. And if you don’t want to answer them, then I will fill in the blanks for you.
So your score for answering the first simple question is zero.
The '54 IRC passed both houses of Congress as HR-8300 and Eisenhower signed it on August 16, 1954, creating Public Law 83-591. There you go. Have at it. Thousands of lawyers have had over 50 years to bring that one magic case that got PL 83-591 ruled unconstitutional. Hasn't happened.
So the simple 'frivolous' question now posed to you is, has the original source law for the personal income tax and its 'voluntary' filing requirements only been into effect since 1954?
If it's too 'frivolous' for you, or irritates you too much coming from a 'criminal tax protestor' like me, then don't bother to answer, I will answer for you.
Meanwhile, why don't you try some of your magic stuff out on the IRS?
Could it be that you don't really believe in the efficacy of any of the junk you spout?
As I have said numerous times on this thread and others I file a 1040 and pay the IRS. So why should I fear them?
So the fact that you are threatening me with IRS abuse sure does confirm what is in Russo's film.
I will answer the simple 'frivolous' question that was posed to you in Post #84 in response to your Post#50.
... has the original source law for the personal income tax and its 'voluntary' filing requirements only been into effect since 1954?
And the answer is:
....No.
See how 'simple' that was?
So of the two simple 'frivolous' questions asked of you from a 'criminal tax protestor' like me, your score is ....still.... zero.
Standby for simple 'frivolous' question #3 from your neighborhood criminal tax protestor.
Be sure to let the lawyers for all of the tax protesters who are in federal prison for violating provisions of 26 USC know about your magic answers.
Why do I need to talk to lawyers? I have said repeatedly that I pay the 1040 taxes and I have explained why. Furthermore, Russo’s film never advocates that people not pay the 1040 taxes although he interviews people that stopped because he wanted to find out why they did what they did. Remember him saying he also wanted to get the story from the IRS side? to be objective? Well that’s another detail we will get to.
I figured once your previous ramblings and rants were broken down bit by bit and simplified, that you would fall back on the ‘people in prison’ argument.
Before you were throwing out multiple bashes in one post making it dizzying for anyone to piece together the details. Now that you are being asked to account one statement at a time, you decide to hurl insults and threats without answering.
Here you go.
Question #3:
If the original source Public law detailing the provisions for implementing the personal income tax were not signed into law in 1954, why did you post that they were in Post #50? And if that is too embarassing for you to deal with, then after you get done insulting and threatening me again, answer the question of ***what year*** the original source Public Law was signed.
Hint: the original statutes were only 14 pages long and with today’s font and printing they would be about 8 pages. But then we are going to get into those statutes and the later Supreme Court challenges that held something that will be very surprising to people today.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Yup. Such is the state of the current law.
We can argue against it rationally, or we can flail at it frivolously and irrationally as do tax protesters and people who believe idiotic TP garbage like Hostage.
They do nothing but discredit the entire effort while making fools out of themselves, and make reform harder to accomplish. I despise ignoramuses like Hostage and his ilk, they only poison the reform enviroment.
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