Not in this case. See, he was put up by the Tax Protestors as a example of someone who got away with it. Giving him a break would just encourage more idiots to follow him.
I mean, I suppose I don’t know that in his specific case. But I can tell you that after meeting with oodles of tax protesters, they all originally stick by their argument that they owe nothing-- but with a little prodding, they ALL end up admitting that they either knew it was bullshit but wanted to try it OR that they knew it sounded too good to be true, but wanted to try it.
Granted, I’m sure people who are truly ignorant are out there— but c’mon. You’re telling me NONE of his other financial advisors told him it was bullshit? Not his manager? Not his friends? He’s a big star, there are TONS of people with their hands on his finances. I’m betting you somebody did tell him, but he wanted to see if he could make it work for him on the off chance it is true. He took the risk, now he’s got to pay for it.
Probably something along these lines. But, as we all know, ignorance of the law is not justification to violate it.
Snipes took one heck of a gamble. He was facing a possible 16 years on felony charges. He got very, very lucky to only be facing 3 years. I suspect that he’ll probably be out in under 18 months.
It’s not a good idea to pull on Uncle Sam’s shirt. He’ll stomp you right into the ground every time. I’ve always paid a little extra tax. There’s a couple deductions that I could take. But, it isn’t worth getting my return flagged. They can have those few extra bucks. I’ve heard the IRS gives people a very tough time claiming a home office.
How come the principal beneficiary is the one getting the less time?
Usually, the “ring leaders” of tax protester stuff (advisors, people who run outfits that make you pay to learn how to be a tax protester, etc.) are treated far more harshly than the followers. In fact, it’s usually only the ring leaders who are ever even thrown in prison. I’m pretty sure they are just being so harsh on Snipes because 1: he’s a celebrity and it’ll set an example and 2: he refused to back down (as someone said, most people eventually back off of their claim).
I thought Federal time didn’t have parole - three years is three years.
Honestly, if he had just reported to prison right after his trial and had kept his nose clean behind bars he’d probably be getting out right about now. Instead, he chose to delay the inevitable with ridiculous appeals. MORON.
Cecil onn the “Ohio Wasn’t a State” argument.
Hehheee. I LOVE tax protestors.
I am pretty sure that this is the case—At least over the years, several Law-talking Dopers have stated that this was how it worked in the Federal Justice System.
Maybe it has been changed by now?
I think you’re right. I forgot this was federal.
The Federal system doesn’t have any “easy” prisons either. I recall Martha Stewart was in a “real” prison. It wasn’t one of those minimum security place without fences. Martha was in a facility for non-violent offenders, but still pretty darn tough. They had guards, strip searches, the whole prison deal. Martha got the full prison experience. I’d guess that Snipes will go to a similar Federal facility.
He is an idiot for listening to the tax protestors. He’s a criminal for following their advice, filling out the forms, and refusing to back down when the government stood up to him.
Well, you may be right, but I find it hard to believe that when he is facing felony counts in federal court that he doesn’t have a lightbulb moment and say - “Hey wait a minute, I don’t need this. Here, here’s the money.”
Right, I’m just saying that he can claim to be following the law - he didn’t just put in zeros like the government doesn’t have the right to know what he makes, he actually put in values. Whether those values actually connect to his real income, I don’t know, but I bet they do. I figure he’s trying the variant that says “I’m complying with all your legal code, but I’m looking at this 861 part that defines what “gross taxable income” is and none of my income meets those standards, so it is deductible.” So the root of the issue is why he feels the 861 part is the applicable part. Is it because he is falling for the idea that he isn’t a US citizen, and thus fits under the foreign national classification?
I don’t know who Eddie Ray Kahn is, but Douglas Rosile is the hack that filed the return for him, making out the legal argument forms, and has a record of this tax protestor crap. He’s the bigger fish because he is pushing this stuff.
So Snipes is headed to a “pound me in the ass” prison? 
Doubtful. State prisons are understaffed and underfunded so prisoners get away with abusing other prisoners, but I’ve never heard accusations about that sort of thing happening in Federal prisons. They seem to be much more serious places.
She was in a minimum-security prison in West Virginia. Apparently its popular nickname is “Camp Cupcake” and Stewart called it “Yale.” I don’t know how much this relates to Snipes. Doesn’t sound too tough to me, but I wasn’t there.
Allenwood is the male version. James Trafficant is there right now.
I haven’t heard much about the Male minimum security Federal prisons. I mentioned Martha because the news shows had several segments with former inmates that explained the rules she’d have to follow.
Celebs going to jail is more common these days. The news seems to be ignoring the Snipes case. They went totally crazy over Martha. They were talking about it for a couple weeks before she went in.
Yeah, people are probably used to it. But Snipes got his sentence a long time ago and he’s not that big a star at this point. On the other hand people just could not get over the idea of homemaker Martha Stewart going to prison.
And the situation was chock’full’o’schadenfreude. A lot of people really loathed Martha in ways they never could about Wesley Snipes.