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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: U.S. to turn up heat on tax protesters The Justice Department, on the heels of a split verdict in its tax evasion prosecution of actor Wesley Snipes, is planning a crackdown on the so-called tax protester movement. The protesters, or tax deniers, assert a constitutional right to avoid federal taxes, relying in part on century-old Supreme Court decisions. Their ranks are growing to include white-collar professionals, and they are costing the government millions in revenue, officials say. "Too many people succumb to the fallacy, the illusion, that you don't have to pay any tax under any set of conditions," said Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman, the new head of the Justice Department's tax division. "That is a growing problem." The movement has been given a boost by the faltering economy and politicians' vilification of the Internal Revenue Service. The Snipes verdict may also have helped. The actor, best known for starring in action movies like Blade and U.S. Marshals, was acquitted on Feb. 1 by a federal jury in Ocala, Fla., of felony fraud and conspiracy charges. He was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to pay income taxes, and he faces up to three years in prison at his sentencing in April. He could also be forced to pay millions in back taxes and penalties. Hochman declined to comment on the case, which was filed in 2006 and predated the department's new initiative. Snipes' attorney didn't return a call seeking comment. Internet inspires growth The Internet has also spurred interest in the tax protest movement as firms sell strategies online and believers encourage others to sign on. "Any kooky tax protester can put up their theories," said Jonathan Siegel, a professor at George Washington University's law school who has a Web site that debunks tax denier arguments. "It is much easier to get their message before a mass audience." Tax protesters rely on a range of legal arguments, including that the Constitution's 16th Amendment giving Congress power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes" wasn't properly ratified. Among other Supreme Court decisions, they cite an 1895 opinion that struck down a federal tax — a ruling that predated the 16th amendment. The protesters also claim that wages aren't legal income, that only residents of the District of Columbia, U.S. territories or federal workers must pay income tax or that foreign, but not domestic, income is taxable. Those arguments, though rejected by courts, are presented by tax deniers with legal citations and other historical evidence. The advice is "easy to believe" and is often followed by the naive, Hochman said. "These cases pop up in virtually every jurisdiction in the United States." New cases coming The Justice Department plans to announce its stepped-up enforcement program next month. Officials will bring many new criminal and civil cases against promoters of the illegal schemes and their clients, Hochman said. The details are still being worked out, he said, though it will involve working with U.S. attorneys' offices and the IRS. Enforcement "is going to be amped up," he said. The agency already has had success in civil cases. Since 2001 it has obtained orders from judges barring more than 300 individuals from preparing tax returns for others or promoting illegal tax strategies. In prosecuting criminal cases, the Justice Department must prove someone "knowingly and willfully" broke the law. Defendants can win acquittal by arguing they didn't know what they were doing was illegal. Still, according to agency statistics, prosecutors have a 97 percent conviction rate in tax denier cases. In civil and criminal cases, protesters can be ordered to pay back taxes, plus penalties and interest. Shared beliefs According to court documents, Snipes subscribed to some of the theories espoused by protesters. Two others charged in the case, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile, promoted a tax denial strategy known as the 861 argument, prosecutors said. Protesters say that section 861 of the Internal Revenue Code only requires Americans to pay taxes on some kinds of foreign income. Snipes also allegedly tried to pay some of his taxes with fake checks, labeled "bill of exchange," a common tax denier tactic. The government said Kahn and Rosile prepared and filed two amended tax returns for Snipes using the 861 theory and requesting almost $12 million in refunds. The IRS never paid. Snipes also failed to file his 1999 through 2004 federal returns as he made more than $38 million in income, prosecutors said. Kahn and Rosile, an accountant whose license had been revoked, were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and face up to 10 years in prison. Michael Minns, an attorney in Houston who has represented defendants in tax cases, said tax deniers tend to fall into two categories: "con artists" or "crooks" who market the bogus strategies, and "idealists" who believe the schemes are valid. The Justice Department crackdown, Minns said, is going to "put a lot of nuts in jail" without addressing larger concerns such as corporations using illegal tax shelters or wealthy people moving money overseas to avoid taxes. "What they are really doing is going after the victims and leaving the billionaires alone," he said.
Poster Comment: "Michael Minns, an attorney in Houston who has represented defendants in tax cases, said tax deniers tend to fall into two categories: "con artists" or "crooks" who market the bogus strategies, and "idealists" who believe the schemes are valid." ______________________________ And, lawyers fall into one of two categories-those who get caught and those who don't!" Take heart my fellow countrymen, for this is not without precedent. The enforcement of the onerous Volstead Act, the criminal enabling statutes to the 18th amendment (Prohibition) was at its all time worst immediately before repeal. One day Eliot Ness and his Tommy gun-toting, anti-liquor religious zealots were hosing down bootleggers and busting oak barrels, and the next they were out of work with no references! Although Ness wound up as the public safety bureaucrat for Cleveland, OH, (and his career there was marred by scandal) the rest of his guys simply faded away and were buried in forgotten graves. Have you ever read a book by a former UNTOUCHABLE? Mee neether. And, so it will go with the asshole revenoors and their evil income tax. Obviously, the banks are in trouble and they can't fund them and perpetual warfare without the tax, but, they can't convict anyone without complicit juries and the feds are finding it ever more difficult to stack and/or fool juries! History books don't mention this little tidbit because the govt doesn't ever want the people to realize our power, but it was juries that killed Prohibition. Many of the same congressmen who passed the 18th amendment repealed it with the 21st, and, they were no more prone to admitting error then than they are now. SO, why did they permanently enshrine this stupidity in the constitution in the form of two amendments? BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT AMERICANS TO GROW ACCUSTOMED TO CHECKING BAD LAWS AT THE JURY LEVEL, AND THE ONLY WAY TO BRING PEOPLE BACK UNDER THE MIND CONTROLLERS' AND MASTER PLANNERS' INFLUENCE WAS TO REMOVE THE OFFENDING AMENDMENT! Yes, things will get worse before they get better, but they can't WIN! The IRS has even floated regular stories about their plan to collect taxes in the event of a nuclear strike, but this was media theater to convince us of the inevitably of death and taxes. They will find that on US Property, i.e. military bases, territories, etc., they can outlaw booze and enforce Prohibition and enforce the income tax against military and civil servants if they wish. But, the rest of us will ignore them, and this will be especially true for the millions of Mexican immigrants here. They don't protest bad laws, they ignore them! Let's tear a page from their book. Since it's now impossible to avoid confrontation with govt agents, what do we have to lose? Sure, there was a time when peaceful, law abiding, folks could be relatively sure that they'd be left alone, but no longer. If you fly and some negro who wants a little payback decides to single you out, he'll fondle your (or your pregnant wife's) breasts or, dozens of other things they do to set people off. And, there is no way to file a tax return and be absolutely sure it will pass legal muster, unless you take zero deductions and pay the max, and who can afford that? Don't let up. We owe it to our children and to our martyrs to keep the pressure on until the bastards finally give in. And, then not only will it be BOOMTOWN, USA like we've never seen, but we'll all be able to hire cheap, unskilled laborers to rake our yards, put in our gardens, clean out our basements and garages, and we can make jokes about their former "profession" as tax preparers and IRS agents while they learn honest trades for the first time! Notice how the above article dismissed previous supreme court cases and other supporting evidence by claiming that courts have ruled against it. We demand to see the law and they show us court decisions where someone else was jailed for asking! Sorry Feds, the game is over. Now that juries are wising up to the swindle, judges and US Attorneys are gnashing their teeth as more and more defendants skate away from the govt's grasp. COURAGEOUS AMERICANS AS THE NEW UNTOUCHABLES! An idea whose time has come.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: HOUNDDAWG (#0)
Jury nullification....or armed revolt. It's your choice, Uncle Scam.....
#2. To: X-15 (#1)
Right. Although I mentioned "precedent" earlier, when it comes to trying to overthrow a constitution in a country whose citizens are the largest, best armed standing army in the world well, for that there is no precedent. And, if they try and fail, well, there is ample precedent for that. They can be executed humanely, or, with low regard for their comfort such as standing them on fences and tossing nooses over tree limbs. Without the calculated drop to snap their necks they would slowly strangle, and that's not as humane as a drop through a trap door. I'd hate to see that. For some reason lynch mobs tend to lose their enthusiasm after the main event, and nobody ever bothers to go back and cut them down or bury the dead. So, we could end up with unsightly, rotting bureaucrats, tyrants, politicians, lawyers, newsmen, academics, etc, who just hang there until the clean up crews (vultures, crows, magpies, insects, etc.,) finish their jobs, and, it could look like Halloween everywhere with the skeletons dangling for a couple of years. I mean, I get sick of a Christmas tree by the end of January. I can't imagine what the year 'round "el dia de los muertos" ambiance would be like.
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