SIGN THE PETITION AT HTTP://WWW.VOTR.ORG. Then find out how you can do more to end America’s peculiar SPRING MADNESS.
Posted on 01/13/2003 1:26:05 PM PST by heyhey
Edited on 04/13/2004 3:30:09 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A tax protester who allegedly promotes a bogus legal loophole to convince people they owe no taxes was ordered by a federal judge to stop the practice and turn over his clients' records.
The order came Friday in the government's effort to force Thurston Bell of Hanover to stop giving clients allegedly false tax advice and charging large fees for filing tax returns.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
Something the tax-and-spend liberals do not like to admit come tax reform time.
Seems to me that the burden of proof should lie with the Government. If he's so bad then it shouldn't be any trouble to prove it, right?
The key word here is 'selling'. Unless you are a certified public accountant, or licensed to do so ... you may be sued for your efforts. The issue is 'selling' your talents. Whether it's a haircut, oil change, or even recommending a stock. You have to be licensed.
There's a pressing issue which will certainly resonate with about .025% of lucid voters. ;)
Try reading the article again. Bell is in court. The judge has issued the order. Presumably, the gov't has already presented a sufficient case for the judge to do so, because judges just don't issue orders like that on their personal whim. Just because Bell tells the press that he's innocent (as everyone being prosecuted is known to do) is no reason for you to take his word that there's no evidence against him.
Seems to me that the burden of proof should lie with the Government. If he's so bad then it shouldn't be any trouble to prove it, right?
Seems to me the government has met the burden.
The government has answered repeatedly in no uncertain terms through Congress, the IRS, DOJ and the Courts.
Here's the IRS's written positions and answers on numerous protest positions:
FRIVOLOUS FILING POSITION BASED ON SECTION 861
Here's the Department of Justice's written position on common tax protest positions:
DOJ CRIMINAL JUSTICE MANUAL, Section 40 TAX PROTESTORS
A comprehensive FAQ compiled by a lawyer of all the Tax Protest arguments that have failed repeatedly and why:
And there are of course the many Court cases from the Article III Courts, (i.e. federal district, appellate, & Supreme Court) that support all the above.
The ultimate place to go for the answers, is Congress. They, afterall are the ones ultimately responsible for the condition of the Statutes, Regulations and Executive Orders. It is Congress in the end the enacts the enabling legislation and accepts or rejects the content of all Regulations and E.O.s.
The Courts have made it abundantly clear that the arguments presented in the above texts are failed and decided, and provide no relief to the defendant. Infact they have also made it very clear as to where to turn for relief from the very beginning as regards the income tax law.
Springer v. United States(1880), 102 U.S. 586
"If the laws here in question involved any wrong or unnecessary harshness, it was for Congress, or the people who make congresses, to see that the evil was corrected.
The remedy does not lie with the judicial branch of the government."Champion v. Ames(1903), 186 U.S. 321
- 'But if what Congress does is within the limits of its power, and is simply unwise or injurious, the remedy is that suggested by Chief Justice Marshall in Gibbons v. Ogden [21 US 1, 9 Wheat. 1, 6 L. ed. 23], when [195 U.S. 27, 56] he said: 'The wisdom and the discretion of Congress, their identity with the people, and the influence which their constituents possess at elections, are, in this, as in many other instances, as that, for example, of declaring war, the sole restraints on which they have relied, to secure them from its abuse. They are the restraints on which the people must often rely solely, in all representative governments."
And the standard you must meet to have a successful court case as regards arguments of Tax Law constitutionality:
MCCRAY v. U S, 195 U.S. 27 (1904)
- "Let us concede that if a case was presented where the abuse of the taxing power was so extreme as to be beyond the principles which we have previously stated, and where it was plain to the judicial mind that the power had been called into play, not for revenue, but solely for the purpose of destroying rights which could not be rightfully destroyed consistently with the principles of freedom and justice upon which the Constitution rests, that it would be the duty of the courts to say that such an arbitrary act was not merely an abuse of a delegated power, but was the exercise of an authority not conferred. "
And finally, for a blow by blow of the judgements of modern tax cases where many of the arguments bantered about in this thread have had their day-in-court:
Study the losses, find out why they occurred then build a strategy around something new instead of repeating the same old tired and dead as a door nail tactics. Judges get bored too, and when a Judge gets bored he throws the argument out as frivolous (we heard it before and weren't impressed) and tacks on a few more $K (FRNs acceptable but they will take payment in gold if you insist) on top of whatever else has been laid on you.
Better yet, pound on Congress Critters, and get the law changed. A much more likely scenario than using the same old arguments that have failed hundreds of times.
But then there are those who insist on doing it the hard way:
United States v. Sloan, 939 F.2d 499 (7th Cir. 1991)
Argued that there is no law imposing a tax on income, that "freeborn" state citizens are exempt from income tax, and that an individual is not a"person" under the tax code.
- KANNE, Circuit Judge.
Like moths to a flame, some people find themselves irresistibly drawn to the tax protestor movement's illusory claim that there is no legal requirement to pay federal income tax. And, like the moths, these people sometimes get burned. Lorin G. Sloan believed these claims and because he acted upon them now faces four months in a federal prison; there can be little doubt that he has been burned.
- The real tragedy of this case is the unconscionable waste of Mr. Sloan's time, resources, and emotion in continuing to pursue these wholly defective and unsuccessful arguments about the validity of the income tax laws of the United States. Despite our rejection of Mr. Sloan's legal analysis of the tax laws, we are not unmindful of the sincerity of his beliefs. On the other hand, we are less sure of the sincerity of the professional tax protestors who promote their views in literature and meetings to persons like Mr. Sloan, yet are unlikely ever to face the type of penalties incurred by him. It may be that our decision will not alter Mr. Sloan's views regarding the tax laws of this country, for he has stated that if we affirm his conviction without applying the law as he understands it, our decision will be "a sham to which I WILL NOT SUBMIT." It may also be that serving his sentence in prison will not alter Mr. Sloan's view. We hope this pessimistic assessment is incorrect.
- We AFFIRM the conviction of Lorin G. Sloan on all counts.
A good article published in John Birch Society's "The New American" to read and consider:
Patriot Beware!
by Thomas R. Eddlem
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1997/vo13no04/vo13no04_patriot.htm
And that is the totality of Thurston Bell's "strategery." You simply claim that you are a nonresident alien with no income from any source inside the United States.
Can you point to the section or regulation where it says that only nonresident aliens are to use Section 861 to determine taxable income from sources within the United States?
Let's try Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1, Subchapter A, Part I, Section 1.
That imposes a tax based on the income of any US citizen or resident alien from whatever source derived.
Let's try Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1, Subchapter N, Part II, Section 871:
Except as provided in subsection (h), there is hereby imposed for each taxable year a tax of 30 percent of the amount received from sources within the United States by a nonresident alien individual... (followed by a description of what gets taxed, which refers extensively to Part I, Section 861).
Subchapter N, Part I, Section 861 only gives you the rules for determining what is and isn't taxable income if you fall under Subchapter N, Part II, Section 871--i.e., if you are a nonresident alien.
If you're not a nonresident alien, you compute your taxable income using Chapter 1, Subchapter B.
Yes, the rules ARE different if you're a US resident as opposed to a nonresident alien.
SIGN THE PETITION AT HTTP://WWW.VOTR.ORG. Then find out how you can do more to end America’s peculiar SPRING MADNESS.
What world do you live in? Judges have a personal vested interest in the income tax continuing to be a money well for the government. They have reason to believe that their continued salary payments depend on it.
This was not a trial with a jury, just a judicial hearing. He should not be deprived of any rights until a jury says so. Of course the jury will be lied to as well, but at least he has a little chance there.
Can you point to the section or regulation where it says that only nonresident aliens are to use Section 861 to determine taxable income from sources within the United States?
Doesn't matter as, compensation for labor or services earned in the United States by United States Citizens is treated as income from sources within the United States under 861 with certain exceptions applying to nonresident aliens.
26 USC Sec. 861. Income from sources within the United States
(a) Gross income from sources within United States
The following items of gross income shall be treated as
income from sources(activities) within the United States3) Personal services
Compensation for labor or personal services performed in the United States;EXCEPT that compensation for labor or services
performed in the United States shall not be deemed to be income
from sources within the United States if -(A) the labor or services are performed by a nonresident
alien individual temporarily present in the United States for a period or periods not exceeding a total of 90 days during the
taxable year,
(B) such compensation does not exceed $3,000 in the
aggregate, and
(C) the compensation is for labor or services performed as an
employee of or under a contract with(i) a nonresident alien, foreign partnership, or foreign
corporation, not engaged in trade or business within the
United States, or
(ii) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the
United States, a domestic partnership, or a domestic corporation, if such labor or services are performed for an office or place of business maintained in a foreign country
or in a possession of the United States by such individual, partnership, or corporation.
In addition, except for purposes of sections 79 and 105 and
subchapter D, compensation for labor or services performed in the
United States shall not be deemed to be income from sources
within the United States if the labor or services are performed
by a nonresident alien individual in connection with the
individual's temporary presence in the United States as a regular
member of the crew of a foreign vessel engaged in transportation
between the United States and a foreign country or a possession
of the United States.
If You are a citizen of the United States earning a wage in the United States, you get to include your wages in computation of the tax you owe.
26 USC 7805(a) Rules and regulations
(a) Authorization - … the Secretary [of the Treasury] shall prescribe all needful rules and regulations for the enforcement of this title [Title 26]…" [26 USC § 7805]
Thus under amplifying Treasury regulations for 26 USC 1, 26 CFR 1.1-1(a),(b)
Sec. 1.1-1 Income tax on individuals.
(a) General rule. (1) Section 1 of the Code imposes an income tax on the income of every individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States and, to the extent provided by section 871(b) or 877(b), on the income of a nonresident alien individual.(b) Citizens or residents of the United States liable to tax. In general, all citizens of the United States, wherever resident, and all resident alien individuals are liable to the income taxes imposed by the Code whether the income is received from sources within or without the United States.
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