That’s exactly how I *read* it.
Kinda like the bicycle helmet law in CT, [riders under age 16 *must* wear a helmet].....but there is no penalty to child/parent *if* they don’t wear one.
So if we simply ignore the law there will be no repercussions? /s
Actually the way I understand it, the answer is yes. It seems that to get enough senators on board to pass the bill, the democrats were forced to add a provision baring the IRS from using any of their enforcement mechanisms to collect the tax. So essentially all they can do is send you a letter saying you owe "x" dollars, they also can use any refund you may be due to pay toward the fines, but other than that they can't put any garnishments, bank levy, property seizure or take you to court over them. So as long as you can fiddle with your taxes so you don't get a refund at the end of the year, you can ignore the mandate with impunity.
You can’t ignore them, but you can tell them that you know the law and tell them to G- F-— themselves...
“The individual may stand upon his constitutional rights as a citizen. He is entitled to carry on his private business in his own way. His power to contract is unlimited. He owes no such duty [to submit his books and papers for an examination] to the State, since he receives nothing therefrom, beyond the protection of his life and property. His rights are such as existed by the law of the land [Common Law] long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution. Among his rights are a refusal to incriminate himself, and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under a warrant of the law. He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights.”
Hale v. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43 at 47 (1905).
January 30, 2005 Contact: Bob Schulz
For Immediate Release (518) 656-3578
U.S. Court of Appeals Rules IRS Cannot Apply Force
Against a Tax Payer Without A Court Order
Taxpayers Free To Ignore An IRS Summons
Queensbury, NY – On January 25, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that taxpayers cannot be compelled by the IRS to turn over personal and private property to the IRS, absent a federal court order.
Quoting from the decision (Schulz v. IRS, case number 04-0196-cv), “...absent an effort to seek enforcement through a federal court, IRS summonses apply no force to taxpayers, and no consequence whatever can befall a taxpayer who refuses, ignores, or otherwise does not comply with an IRS summons until that summons is backed by a federal court order…[a taxpayer] cannot be held in contempt, arrested, detained, or otherwise punished for refusing to comply with the original IRS summons, no matter the taxpayer’s reasons, or lack of reasons for so refusing.”
read the rest here:
http://whiz.to/~papera/Articles/IRS%20Summons.html
They had to pass the law for us to be able to know how it was going to screw us.