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Do We HAVE to File Our Income
Taxes?
“In this world, nothing is certain but death and
taxes.”
Benjamin Franklin
No
one likes filing their taxes (or paying them, for that matter), but
most of us do it as a matter of principle-and because we know we’re
going to be spending some quality time in a federal prison if we
don’t! There are a number of groups out there, selling hype, who are
using their time and resources to attempt to fight the tax laws in
the United States and prove that paying taxes to the government
is unconstitutional!
Okay, take a second to catch your breath. You’re probably
laughing as hard as I was when I read that. I mean, think about it.
If there were a way out of paying taxes, don’t you think the
multi-millionaires out there, with their high priced lawyers, would
have figured it out by now?
The arguments out there against the requisite payment of
income tax range from fact to fiction to blatantly false, and
unfortunately reel in some individuals and their money. These tax
protestors claim that:
a)
The
16th amendment to the Constitution, which states, “The
Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration,” was never
properly ratified by the requisite number of states, and therefore
had never had any legal standing.
This
contention was taken up by William J. Benson and first seen in
United States vs. House. Their argument? That the spelling,
capitalization and punctuation of the amendments read and ratified
by the states was different than that formally added to the
Constitution, and therefore it conveyed a different meaning.
Specific examples cited were the capitalization (or lack thereof) of
the word “State” and the substitution of a semi-colon for a
comma.
As you can imagine, the argument was dismissed by the
court on the grounds that the minute differences revealed upon
closer examination were not serious enough to cause misunderstanding
and provide grounds for repeal.
b)
There
is no statute or regulation requiring citizens of the U.S. to file
or pay their taxes, and therefore filing income taxes is completely
voluntary. This is a case of these protestors not doing their
homework. The Internal Revenue Code contains the laws mandated by
the Federal Government concerning the payment of taxes. If these
protestors had read Title 26 of the US Code they would see, in
specific detail, the list of individuals who are required to pay
taxes and the incomes upon which these taxes can be enforced.
Now, bear in mind that there is a difference between
Federal Income Tax and State Income Tax. Many tax
protestors get hung up on this difference, citing the fact that
seven states in the US do not require their citizens to pay a State income tax. Guess what
guys? The people living in these states file a Federal Return every
year, just like the rest of us.
c)
Filing
an Income Tax Return violates the 5th Amendment right to
not incriminate yourself.
For the record, that amendment wasn’t intended to allow
citizens to violate the law. Rather, it was intended to help anyone
arrested for an offense keep from digging themselves in deeper
through a thoughtless slip of the tongue. (For example, did you know
if you’re in a car with someone and you are in possession of
marijuana, and you happen to mention that you saw a gun in the glove
box when you got in, a weapons charge will be added on to the charge
of simple possession or intent to deal on the assumption that the
weapon was involved or intended to be involved in the crime? A
weapons charge makes the crime much more severe in a judge’s
eyes.)
d)
Wages
aren’t income. If wages aren’t income, then what is? Income is
defined by the Random House Unabridged Dictionary as “The monetary
payment received for goods or services, or from other sources, as
rents or investments.” What are wages but a monetary payment for
services? By definition wages are income, and therefore included as
taxable income in Title 26.
e)
Income
tax is a direct tax, and therefore prohibited by the Constitution. I
admit, I had to do a little bit of research on this one. A direct
tax is a tax on an individual that cannot be shifted onto others,
such as an income tax or personal property tax.
What does the Constitution say about direct tax? It
states that, “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the several states which may be included within this union,
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by
adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to
service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three
fifths of all other Persons.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the
first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law
direct.”
In other words, direct taxes are acceptable and will
be apportioned (divided according to plan) among citizens of the
states following a census. The Constitution supports direct tax.
Apparently someone needs to buy these tax protestors a
dictionary!
To answer the question, yes, you have to file and pay your
income taxes. The arguments against the legal requirement to pay
income taxes are laughable, and yet to date hundreds of cases of tax
evasion based upon these arguments by tax protestors have found
their way into the federal courts. The best thing to do when these
zealots approach you on the street or on the internet, is to avoid
them like the plague. Remember, if you listen to them and don’t file
your taxes, you are the one that is going to get burned. Sooner or
later these nuts are going to get caught, and you can be sure the
judge isn’t going to be impressed by what they have to say. After he
stops laughing at their ridiculous assertions, you’ll literally see
the “book” thrown at them.
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