Legitimately nuts. Filing a return is voluntary; paying tax on your income is, unfortunately, not.
LL
I’ve been trying to find out the same thing,
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42859
here are some answers
friedo
October 24, 2000, 6:20pm
4
Here is a page that explains why all the usual “I don’t have to pay incomce taxes” arguments are bunk: http://evans-legal.com/dan/tpfaq.html
I’m reading that evans site. I’m also bookmarking it.
I like this section, which applies to Irwin Schiff…
Irwin Schiff served time in federal prison for income tax evasion. While he was in prison, the IRS took the royalties from the sale of his book to pay his back taxes. For a fairly complete history of the losses of Irwin Schiff against the United States tax system, see Schiff v. United States, 919 F.2d 830 (2nd Cir. 1990); United States v. Schiff, 876 F.2d 272 (2nd Cir. 1989); United States v. Schiff, 801 F.2d 108 (2nd Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 945 (1987); Schiff v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 780 F.2d 210 (2nd Cir. 1985); Schiff v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 766 F.2d 61 (2nd Cir. 1985) (per curiam); Schiff v. Commissioner, 751 F.2d 116 (2nd Cir. 1984) (per curiam); United States v. Schiff, 647 F.2d 163 (2nd Cir. 1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 835 (1981); United States v. Schiff, 612 F.2d 73 (2nd Cir. 1979).
Irwin Schiff also once made the mistake of appearing on television and offered to pay $100,000 to anyone who can identify the sections of the Internal Revenue Code that impose any liability for tax. A man named Richard Newman correctly identified sections 1, 6012, and sued Irwin Schiff when he refused to pay the $100,000. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Newman was right and Schiff’s claim was “ridiculous,” but ruled that Schiff did not have to pay because Newman did not telephone the television station with the correct answer within the time specified in Schiff’s offer.
Nice try, but I’ll stick to paying. Keeps them off my back.
<< Filing a return is voluntary; paying tax on your income is, unfortunately, not. >>
Sorry, BZZZZT! Wrong. Filing a return is mandatory, not voluntary. There are some individuals (for example, those with income below a certain minimum), who are not required to file a return. For them, filing the return is voluntary. For everyone else, filing a return is required – even if you are a U.S. citizen living outside the U.S. with no U.S. sourced income.
Just think how much time you’ll have to research the tax code while in prison!
The real question is not “Is the tax mandatory?” but “What’s likely to happen to me if I don’t pay it?”.
Here’s another recent thread on the same subject, wherein I posted an enlightening note from Boston T. Party, author of the classic “Good-Bye April 15th” book:http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42859
