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BIOGRAPHYIrwin Allen Schiff (February 23, 1928 – October 16, 2015) was an American tax protester known for writing and promoting literature in which he claimed the income tax in the United States is illegal and unconstitutional. Judges in several civil cases ruled in favor of the federal government and against Schiff. As a result of these judicial rulings, Schiff was serving a sentence of at least 13 years for tax crimes at the time of his death. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that Schiff died on October 16, 2015. Schiff was the father of businessman and former United States...

Irwin Schiff died on Friday while in federal custody over charges connected with his refusal to pay taxes and his advising others to do so. His public career began as a popularizer of small-government, Austrian-economics-influenced thought with a popular book mostly about the various ways he thought government actions of various sorts harmed citizens called The Biggest Con. He then shifted to become the most famous popularizer, over many books over decades, of the idea that no one legally owes income tax. According to an obituary notice from his son Peter Schiff, who runs the firm Euro Pacific Capital and...

For years I have refused to file or pay income tax.

Anti-tax crusader and author Irwin Schiff has been sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison for advising people that no U-S law requires them to pay income tax -- and for contempt of court during trial. The 78-year-old Schiff used his sentencing to again declare his innocence -- accusing what he called a "fascist" government of trying to stifle his truth. His lawyer pleaded for leniency -- arguing that Schiff is mentally ill. But U-S District Court Judge Kent Dawson in Las Vegas used against Schiff his own witness stand boast that he'd helped thousands of followers legally...

Anti-Tax Author Gets 13 Years in Prison By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - Anti-tax crusader and author Irwin Schiff was sentenced Friday to more than 13 years in federal prison for advising people that no U.S. law requires them to pay income tax. Schiff, 78, accused the government of trying to suppress the truth, while his lawyer argued he was mentally ill. Schiff's earlier boast from the witness stand that he had helped thousands of followers avoid paying $2 billion in taxes was used against him at sentencing. "Thousands of tax returns, millions and maybe billions of...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Anti-tax crusader Irwin Schiff is mentally ill and his time in federal prison for tax fraud and other convictions should be reduced, according to documents filed by his lawyers. Court documents claim Schiff, 77, suffers from suicidal depression, bipolar mental disorder, paranoia and delusions that made him believe paying taxes was voluntary. "In short, Mr. Schiff's behavior is not rational," said Cynthia Barry, a San Jose, Calif., psychologist who interviewed Schiff in 2004. Barry's account, along with reports from an Idaho psychologist and a Las Vegas psychiatrist, were contained in documents Schiff's lawyers submitted to Judge...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Anti-tax crusader Irwin Schiff and an associate were found guilty Monday of charges including conspiracy, tax evasion and tax fraud that could get each of them decades in federal prison and millions of dollars in fines. Schiff, 77, who argues that paying taxes is voluntary, was handcuffed and led from U.S. District Court after a jury found him guilty of all 13 charges. "There's no reason to put me in jail," Schiff told Judge Kent Dawson, whose patience was tested while Schiff served as his own lawyer during the five-week trial. "I'm not a flight risk....

LAS VEGAS (AP) - As millions of taxpayers prepared to meet the April 15 filing deadline, an anti-tax author attempted to argue Wednesday in federal court that no American is required to pay taxes. Tax opponent Irwin Schiff and two of his associates appeared in U.S. District Court on charges they helped thousands of taxpayers file bogus returns. Schiff told U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen that he would plead guilty if federal prosecutors could show a tax requirement exists. "I will not accept your plea of guilty at this time," Leen said and entered a plea of not guilty on...

Federal jury in Las Vegas indicts anti-tax author Irwin Schiff By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - A federal grand jury indicted anti-tax author Irwin Schiff and two associates Wednesday, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States by helping others file false tax returns. Schiff, the author of "The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes," argues there is no legal requirement to pay income taxes. Government lawyers have been pursuing civil actions that would bar Schiff from selling his book and from holding tax seminars. "There is no magic way out...

Article published Feb 13, 2004 Manchester Tax-evasion teacher convicted U.S. income tax is voluntary, man says By KATHY MCCORMACK The Associated Press A tax preparer who ran hotel seminars designed to teach people how to avoid paying federal income taxes was convicted yesterday of multiple counts of preparing false returns. Steven Swan of Manchester was convicted in U.S. District Court in Concord on 15 counts of preparing false tax returns and amended returns, two counts of preparing false amended returns for himself and one count of corruptly impeding the administration of the federal tax laws. He faces three years in...

Los Angeles Daily News Tax evasion guru claims insanity E-mail points to ruse in case of federal income levy foe By David Cay Johnston The New York Times Saturday, February 07, 2004 - Irwin Schiff, the nation's best known promoter of claims that no law requires the payment of income taxes, suffers from delusions including a fantasy that he alone can properly interpret the tax laws, according to papers that he had his lawyers file in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The filing, made Jan. 23, is highly unusual, especially in a civil lawsuit. The document asks a judge...

Tax Protester Tells Federal Court That He Is Delusional By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 - Irwin Schiff, the nation's best-known promoter of claims that no law requires the payment of income taxes, suffers from delusions including a fantasy that he alone can properly interpret the tax laws, according to papers that he had his lawyers file in Federal District Court in Las Vegas. The filing, made on Jan. 23, is highly unusual, especially in a civil lawsuit. The document asks a judge to deny a summary judgment in favor of the Justice Department that Mr. Schiff owes...

JOEL BELZ Code of silence Why won't the IRS answer a basic question about tax law? By Joel Belz I STILL HAVE DOUBTS WHETHER THE NAME OF VERNICE B. Kuglin, who lives in Memphis, Tenn., will someday leap off the pages of America's history books along with those of Patrick Henry, Nathan Hale, and Rosa Parks. I do know that Ms. Kuglin must be a woman of some personal courage. Ms. Kuglin, a 58-year-old pilot for FedEx, made news a few days ago when a federal court jury found her not guilty on six charges of tax evasion and willful...

<p>Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to find anti-tax author Irwin Schiff in contempt of court for failing to turn over a customer list to the government.</p> <p>Schiff, who contends that paying federal income taxes is voluntary, said the government got the list when agents raided his Las Vegas book store in February.</p>

LAS VEGAS — A tax protester may not sell his book that contends paying income tax is voluntary, a federal judge ruled June 16. U.S. District Judge Lloyd D. George wrote in an order banning the book that Irwin Schiff is not protected by the First Amendment because he has encouraged people not to pay taxes. "There is no protection ... for speech or advocacy that is directed toward producing imminent lawless action," George wrote in support of the preliminary injunction on the book, The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes. The Internal Revenue Service...

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is urging a federal judge to end his ban of a book written by anti-tax activist Irwin Schiff. Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George issued a temporary restraining order March 19 that prevents Schiff from distributing his book, called "The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes." George scheduled a hearing for Monday on the government's request to convert the order to a preliminary injunction. In a brief filed Friday, ACLU attorneys Allen Lichtenstein and Robert Nersesian urged George to "decline to issue a blanket ban" on distribution...

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A federal judge ordered a man who claims that tax paying is voluntary in the United States to stop selling his book and giving seminars. Irwin Schiff is the author of "The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes," and offers paid seminars on the topic. Schiff said the judge's temporary order violates his First Amendment rights. "Banning a book! The government is trying to prevent me from telling the truth about the income tax," the 75-year-old said Thursday. Department of Justice lawyer Evan Davis said Schiff advised people to file false...