Tax Matters

A major topic of constitutional abuse concerns taxes. Constitutional government requires revenue, and constitutions provide for revenue collection, but only in certain ways. When taxes are not constitutionally authorized, or are collected in ways that violate constitutional rights, then the foundations of constitutional republican government are threatened.

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U.S. Income Tax — The main source of revenue for the U.S. government is the federal income tax, but the legitimacy of the tax and the ways it is collected are doubtful.

1.    Income Tax Amendment Never Ratified — Summary of research by Benson and Beckman.
2.  Exposé on the Non-ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment — Correspondence between Sec. of State Philander Knox and the Chief Clerk of the Office of the Solicitor.
3.   Controversy over the income tax, Jon Roland 2000/07/11.
4. Direct and Indirect tax, Jon Roland 2016/12/03.
5.   The Law That Always Was, Vern Holland, 1987 — Treatise on the legitimacy of the income tax.
6.   Judicial Tyranny and Your Income Tax, Jeffrey Dickstein, 1990, 2010 — Review of leading cases, showing compensation for labor is not "income" subject to taxation.
7.   Uncertainties of the Income Tax, by Larry Becraft, Attorney.
8.  U.S. v. William J. Benson — Benson is being prosecuted for informing people that the Income Tax Amendment was never ratified.
9.  U.S. v. Vernice Kuglin — Kuglin was acquitted for failure to file. Here are the transcripts.
10.  Activist Efforts — Groups and sites working for tax reform.
11.  GAO Report — IRS lacks statutory authority to impose or enforce penalties for employers not reporting.
12.  Brushaber Petition — Provides insight into the original arguments.
    •  Brushaber brief — Arguments made to Supreme Court.
    •  Union Pacific brief — Arguments made to Supreme Court.
    •  United States brief — Arguments made to Supreme Court, and the ones the Court sustainedBrushaber.
    •  Brushaber Transcript — Arguments made to Supreme Court.
13.   Oral Argument, US Supreme Court, U.S. v. Sandra L. Craft, Jan. 14, 2002, see especially p. 6 — Exchange between Cj. J. Rehnquist (labeled as "QUESTION") and Kent L. Jones, Assistant to the Solicitor General, for the U.S. Inadvertent disclosure that there is no law making it a crime to fail to file or pay income taxes on personal income.
14.  Taxes, Liberation Journal — Links to articles.
15.  The Income Tax, by Benton McMillin, May 17, 1913 edition, Saturday Evening Post — Traces historical background.
16.  Revenue Act of 1942 — This was what first introduced withholding "tax" on wages.
17.   Brief Explanation of the 1942 Victory Tax
18.  Internal Revenue Code — 26 USC, as of January 1, 2002.
19.   Internal Revenue Code — 26 USC, as of January 2, 2006.
20.  Internal Revenue Regulations — Through 2003.
21.  Excerpt from 1943 Congressional Record — Debate showing the original understanding of the income tax as an excise on income from property.
22.   Taxes for Revenue are Obsolete, Beardsley Ruml, Chairman of the Federal reserve Banks of New York, American Affairs, Jan. 1946, VIII:1, p. 35 — Argues against corporate income tax.
23.  A Constitutional Replacement for the Income Tax on Wages — Not a sales tax but a purchase tax.
24.   Croasmun Memorandum — Minutes of 1973 meeting in which IRS agents outline their subversion of the judicial system.
25.   The Tax Protestor Doctrine, by Don Kostyu — Discussion of the Croasmun Memorandum and how it has been applied.
26.  Section 1706 — Example of tax code being used to suppress small competitors.

Leading Court Decisions — read carefully and note their confusion.

1.  Hylton v. United States, 3 U.S. 171 (1796) — Tax on carriages is "indirect".
2.  Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429 (1895) — Tax on income from property is "direct", so must be apportioned.
3.  Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429 (1895) — Rehearing of the case.
4.  Brushaber v. Union Pacific R. Co., 240 U.S. 1 (1916).
5.  Stanton v. Baltic Mining Company, 240 U.S. 112 (1916).
6.  Southern Pacific v. Lowe, 247 U.S. 330 (1918). — "We must reject...the broad contention submitted in behalf of the government that all receipts...everything that comes in...are income" ...
7.  Eisner v. Macomber, 252 U.S. 189 (1920) — "Income" does not include wages.
8.  New York Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 U.S. 345 (1921) — Tax on inheritance. Accepts pass-through definition of direct and indirect tax, which had not been accepted in Pollock.
9.  Bowers v. Kerbaugh-Empire Co., 271 U.S. 170 (1926)
10.  South Carolina v. Baker, 485 U.S. 505 (1988) — Allowed U.S. tax on interest from state bonds, ruled not a violation of Tenth Amendment.
11.  National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius, 11-393 (06/28/2012) — Held an assessment on not doing something was a tax, and not a direct tax.

Case quotes

Direct and Indirect taxes — Discussion and examploes.

1.  Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, Book V. V.2. Of the Sources of the General or Public Revenue of the Societ — First scholarly treatment of the distinction.
2.  Direct tax enacted in 1861 — Thirty-seventh Congress, Sess. I. Ch. 45. Sec. 8. Page 294ff.
3.  Health Care Act upheld! — Discussion of NFIB v. Sibelius, declaring the individual mandate to be an indirect tax.

U.S. Social Security — The main system of federal retirement subsidy.

1.  Social Security Act of 1935 — Compare to the present system.

Advocates

•  We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education — Protest unlawful income taxes and taxation practices.
•  National Taxpayer's Union (NTU) — Works for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and taxpayer rights.
•  Americans for Tax Reform — Works for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and less regulation.
•  Federal Income Tax — From originalintent.org.
•  The Law That Never Was, by Red Beckman and William Benson — Evidence that the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution was never properly ratified.
•  Constitutional Income: Do you have any? — Site by Phil Hart.
•  The Oklahoma Protest — Challenge to the report that Oklahoma ratified the income tax amendment.
•  The Colossal Fraud of 'Involuntary Perjury', by Pitman Buck, Jr.
•  The Federal Income Tax is Unconstitutional — Argues from legislative history of income tax amendment that "income" is only supposed to be earnings on capital, not earnings on personal labor.
•  Tax Stuff — Do NOT read if afraid of the truth.
•  The Case Against the Income Tax, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) — His "Liberty Amendment," bill would repeal the 16th Amendment and effectively abolish the income tax.
•  The Great Deception — Arguments of Larken Rose.
•  Power to Tax — Arguments of Irwin Schiff.
  1.  Federal Mafia — Federal Government is organized crime.
  2.   The Biggest Con — How The Government Is Fleecing You.
  3.    The Great Income Tax Hoax — Income tax is a fraud.
  4.    The Social Security Swindle — Social Security is a fraud.
  5.  The Kingdom of Moltz — About inflation and where it comes from.
  6.  Appellant's Opening Brief — In appeal from conviction of Irwin Schiff.
•  Irwin Schiff's Theories About the Federal Income Tax Are Just Plain Wrong! — Arguments of Steven A. Swan that the arguments don't win in court, as though that were a test of their merits.
•  Legal Duty to File? — Comments of Eduardo M. Rivera, Attorney.
•  Is the Income Tax Legally Enforced?, by Jim Carter — You have a right to make a living.
•  Constitutional Challenge , by David B. Levenstam — Repealing the 16th Amendment wouldn't kill the income tax, Reason, January 1999.
•  Regressive Thoughts on a Progressive Tax — Arguments of the Claremont Institute.
•  Investigating Curious Evidence (ICE) — Investigates and exposes official wrongdoing.
•  Nontaxpayer.org — Useful information on how to protest illegal taxes.
•  FreedomWorks Foundation — Lower Taxes, Less Government, More Freedom.
•  WhatisTaxed.com — Helps visitor do online searches of the U.S. Code (USC) and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
•  Truth Attack — Efforts of lawyer Tom Cryer and his successors to fight the income tax.
  •  Innocence Revealed, by Tommy Cryer, et. al. — Collection of writings on the illegitimacy of the income tax.
•  Sherry Peel Jackson's Home Page — CPA and former IRS agent who found the income tax is a hoax.

Other Resources

•  Tax History Project — Attempt to trace the history of taxes, but beware of the tendency of the authors to accept what is in fact unconstitutional.

Also see Money Matters.