Free Republic

The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Douglas Shulman, told C-SPAN on Sunday that he uses a tax preparer to do his federal income tax return because he finds the tax code too complex to handle the job himself. “I use a preparer,” Shulman told C-SPAN anchor Steve Scully on the network’s Newsmakers program. "I've used one for years. I find it convenient. I find the tax code complex, so I use a preparer.” Scully followed up by asking Shulman, “How would you make it easier? How would you make it less complex?” Shulman said: "I don't write the tax...

<p>Even Hollywood couldn't have written a more ideal script for the Internal Revenue Service than actor Wesley Snipes' tax-fraud trial.</p> <p>At a time when millions of Americans are buckling down to prepare their taxes, Snipes is being cast as a villainous example of the dangers of joining with Internet-fueled activists who claim the IRS has no authority to collect taxes.</p>

With the start of his tax evasion trial three weeks away, actor Wesley Snipes just fired his high-powered legal team, a move that a federal judge yesterday blasted as a transparent ploy to secure a court continuance. Claiming that his five-lawyer team was incompetent, Snipes yesterday filed a motion to continue his trial, which is set to open October 22 in U.S. District Court in Ocala, Florida. Until Snipes fired him, William Martin--who represents Michael Vick and Senator Larry Craig--headed a five-lawyer team defending Snipes on felony tax and conspiracy charges. But Snipes's request for a trial delay was almost...

Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., on conspiracy to defraud the IRS and failing to file income tax returns. The Blade actor and two other men, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile, are charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud the IRS for falsely claiming nearly $12 million in refunds. Snipes, 44, is also charged with six counts of failing to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2004. ... A warrant has been issued for his arrest... According to the indictment, Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light...

Actor Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud for failing to pay nearly $12 million in taxes and failing to file tax returns for six years. Federal prosecutors in Tampa, Fla., said Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds in 1996 and 1997 on taxes already paid, and then failed to file returns between 1999 and 2004.

WASHINGTON -- Wesley Snipes, whose flash and dash style of acting carried him from the streets of the South Bronx to movie stardom, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and tax fraud, federal officials announced today. Snipes, 44, was also charged with six counts of failing to file income tax returns. If convicted of all of the charges, he could be sentenced to as much as 16 years in prison. Snipes' whereabouts could not be determined, said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Middle District of Florida.

A CHALLENGE TO H.R. 25 [alleged fair tax] SUPPORTERS What part of our federal Constitution grants power to Congress to lay and collect a “sales tax”? I have been told by some proponents of H.R. 25 to read Article 1, Section 8, but, I do not see “sales tax” in the list of specific taxing powers granted in that part of the Constitution. I guess it’s safe to assume at this point in time the promoters of H.R.25 were pretending that a power was granted to Congress to lay and collect a “sales tax”. In addition, those who promote H.R....

Advocates of replacing the income tax with the FairTax — a consumption tax in the form of a national retail sales tax (NRST) on new goods and services — regularly point to the complexity of the tax code, the millions of hours and dollars wasted on compliance costs, the evils of the withholding tax, and the abuses of the IRS to bolster their case for the FairTax. The twin truths that taxation is theft (no matter how the money is collected) and that the US government should never be given a budget that is in the trillions (no matter how...

Many of the proposals that are being brought before you have merit. But they have merit in the same sense that treating the symptoms of a serious disease rather than the underlying cause of the disease has merit. If we have no means of treating the underlying disease, then we treat the symptoms in the hope the disease will run its course and the patient will improve. If we have not yet accurately diagnosed the disease, then we alleviate the symptoms until the tests are completed and we can attack the underlying problem. On the other hand, if we understand...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Katherine Harris proposed a national sales tax during a campaign appearance Friday in front of the Internal Revenue Service, which she said she would abolish. The appearance was mostly intended to continue her assault on Sen. Bill Nelson, the Democrat she is seeking to unseat in November. "The people of Florida need to know that Bill Nelson has raised their taxes time and time again," she said. Harris said that as senator she would make tax reform her top priority and argued to scrap the current tax system, and thus the IRS, for a national sales...

Here's a sobering economic forecast: If the United States doesn't get control of health-care spending, Social Security and other expanding federal programs in the near term, it will face a financial catastrophe when 77 million baby boomers retire. Such is the dire prediction of Professor Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University. Similar prophesies have been pronounced over the past decade or so. Unfortunately, Washington doesn't hear - or want to hear - about the potentially devastating impact of long-term obligations involving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Those who could make the necessary changes, such as privatization of Social Security and implementation...

Top Ten Civil Liberties Abuses of the Income Tax by Chris Edwards Any tax system creates a threat to individual liberty because "the power to tax involves the power to destroy," as Chief Justice John Marshall observed. But the federal income tax and its enforcement harm civil liberties much more than necessary to raise needed funds for the government. Certainly, the IRS performs poorly and too easily abuses the rights of citizens. But ultimately Congress is to blame for creating an excessively complex and high-rate tax system. New laws to increase taxpayer protections and replacement of the income tax with...

Why NTU Supports the FairTax: The Fair Tax Act of 2005 would promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States. Legislative Status: Rep. John Linder (GA) introduced H.R. 25 in the House of Representatives on January 4, 2005. Senator Saxby Chambliss (GA) introduced S. 25 in the Senate on January 24, 2005. NTU has endorsed the FairTax since 1998 and continues to work for its adoption Benefits of the FairTax: The FairTax plan brings fairness, transparency,...

A Battlefield for Tax Reform There are a few significant battlefields in the war for tax reform. One of them is Free Republic. What makes the Free Republic battlefield significant is that the debate is at the cutting edge. The debate on Free Republic is the most current and most knowledgeable. It is a year ahead of other significant battlefields (radio talk shows, political town-hall meetings, conversations among neighbors and coworkers.) The trend on Free Republic with respect to tax reform is going to show up in the real world. Free Republic is a tiny segment of the world, albeit...

To be sure, more than most other groups, the real estate industry has had success at the national level in preserving incentives in the federal tax laws for real estate. For commercial residential real estate, like-kind exchange rules have allowed transfers of commercial property without taxation. Some commercial real estate companies and managers benefit from the low income housing credit and tax-exempt bond financing. Despite these spoils of the annual tax battles, a tax system based on income seriously disadvantages commercial real estate. The disadvantages far outweigh any advantages under current law. There are, of course, the problems germane to...

We are grateful for the opportunity to expose some of the inequities in the U.S. tax laws. When we began this project, we thought we would highlight a few, mostly wellknown inequities, such as the seemingly interminable inequity between the deductibility of health insurance premiums for the self-employed versus C Corporations. Unfortunately, our investigation uncovered much more. What we found were dozens of sections of the Internal Revenue Code which, on their face, disadvantage small firms. There is little doubt that this is just the surface of the problem. The root causes of these disparities are several.

Why is it that those who work hardest to deny the connection of "economic" and "moral" issues are also the ones who use money to manipulate the moral lives of Americans? The Bush/Forbes vote auction in Ames, Iowa, last weekend was just the latest example of corrosive big money at work in our political process. What could have been a genuine and informative test of grass roots support became instead a Roman circus of dancing girls, free banquets, and deluxe free transportation, as the money candidates worked hard to import enough well-fed and happy bodies to pump up their vote...

I'll admit that by the force of repetition on FR, the "Fair Taxers" have convinced me of the evident rightness of their point of view. I would like to explain the reasons for my conversion: 1) Since the "Fair Tax" is revenue neutral, the Federal Government will be able to continue funding programs that I detest. 2) By receiving a pre-bate check every month, my children will grow up appreciating the munificence of the Federal Government. 3) Since I'm tired of Republican rule in the Congress and the White House, the slogan "Tax the Poor! They don't pay their fair...

Abolish the federal income tax! No more taxes on savings and investments! A "Fair Tax" can completely fund the federal government, Social Security and Medicare! You control how much you spend! So what are we waiting for? You, the taxpayers of America burdened with an income tax that is costly, wasteful and sinking America into inevitable bankruptcy. All current forms of federal taxation would end! You would keep 100 percent of your paycheck. You control how you spend your paycheck. It's your money. You make the decisions as to how you want to spend your money. The Fair Tax would...

President Bush has said it is time to address to address income tax reform. The Fair Tax Act deserves a serious look. House Speaker Dennis Hastert wants it brought to the floor for a vote. Majority leader Tom Delay supported it. Over fifty five Representative are cosponsoring presently it and more are jumping on board. The Fair Tax Act(HR25/S1493)proposal covers three basic areas: **Payroll taxes Each payday, I lose 17.5% of my paycheck to taxes(10% to income tax, 6.1 percent to Social Security, and 1.4% to Medicare). This Fair Tax proposal would let me keep that entire 17.5% My employer...