Income tax in america?

Question

is it true that you dont have to pay income tax in america, and that you cannot be punished by law for it?

Answer 1

Absolutely not true.  There are laws concerning income taxes and they are codified as Title 26 of the U.S. Code.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/

As Wayne said, not a single tax protester has ever won a court case that said they did not have to pay any taxes.  There are a few that have successfully defended themselves from criminal prosecution, but they still had to pay their taxes.  There are a few that have successfully convinced a court that a penalty was levied in error, but they still had to pay their taxes.  

Re: Supposed to be a tax on profit.

Wages you receive in exchange for your labor IS profit or a gain to the person receiving the wages.  Profit or gain is the difference between the selling price of a service or commodity and the price paid by the seller of that service or commodity.  For example, you find a diamond ring in your backyard that is worth $4,000.  If you sell it to your neighbor for $3,000, do you have a $1,000 loss?  No, you have a $3,000 gain or the difference between the selling price ($3,000) and the price you paid ($0).  It is the same with your labor.  You paid nothing for your labor.  So, if you sell your labor for $10 an hour and after 40 hours you get paid $400, you have a gain of $400 and that gain is taxable.

Answer 2

Technically there is no law stating that we are required to pay income tax.  It is supposed to be tax on profit, not income (which is a trade...I give u 8 hours, you give me $80) unless it is aportioned, which it is not.  

Although, the IRS will bully you into paying.  So that if they take you to court with their high-priced lawyers, you probably won't win b/c the jurors will think if they pay taxes you should too.

So just to avoid the hassle, loss in wages, and stress.. you should go ahead and continue to pay, but it is a bunch of crock!

And on the contrary Wayne G, there are some tax protestors that have won in court!  It's not easy... but it has happened a couple times.

Vernice Kuglin  

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,9463...

There are others, but I don't feel like looking them all up, go to http://www.givemeliberty.org and they have a lot of resources on there

Answer 3

Untrue

Ask Wesley Snipes.  He is going to do 3 years in Prison for failing to file a return.  I believe that Snipes' tax guru (Eddie Kahn) got 10 years.  One of the best known "Tax Protesters", a guy named Irwin Schiff was sentenced to 13 years in prison a few years ago.  At the time, he was 78 years old.  Translation:  He will probably die in prison.  A former IRS agent was sentenced last fall to prison.  She is in a lot of tax protester videos.

There are many tax protesters in state and federal prison.  You can look the federal ones up on the Bureau of Prison's website.  Here is Irwin Schiff:

http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderSer...

Here is Sherry Peel Jackson (the former IRS agent):

http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderSer...

One other thing that tax protesters don't want you to know:  They have never been victorious in court and gotten out of paying their taxes and, they not only have to pay the taxes but, they have have to pay interest and penalties also.  The current penalty for filing a frivolous return is $5,000 per return ($10,000 if a joint return).

File your returns and pay your taxes, you will be much happier in the long run.  Tax protesters always end up broke and alone.

Edit- To the poster below

While Vernice Kuglin "won" her criminal trial and kept herself out of jail, she had to pay all of the taxes plus penalties and interest.  At one point, a few years ago, while making over $100,000 per year as a pilot, she was only bringing home a couple of hundred dollars per pay check.  The IRS was getting the rest.

It is true that a few tax protesters have basically claimed stupidity and beat the criminal charges, not one of them has gotten out of paying their taxes.

Answer 4

Obviously you have been living in a fantasy world.  Don't bet the rent on this silliness.

Answer 5

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL I SAW THEM ON THE INTERNET:

Nobody ever really landed on the moon - it was a giant hoax. What you saw on TV was filmed in Utah.

Elvis is still alive, and performing marriage ceremonies in Las Vegas.

It is unconstitutional for the government to tax your wages (income tax), the 16th amendment was never ratified, and most of what we think of as income isn't really income anyway.

Excuse me now....I just won 2 million pounds in the online UK lottery when my email was randomly selected, and I have to go answer the email.....

;-}

Answer 6

"Technically there is no law stating that we are required to pay income tax. It is supposed to be tax on profit, not income [Huh? The income tax is not a tax on income? lmao]

(which is a trade...I give u 8 hours, you give me $80) unless it is aportioned, which it is not. [Too weird to even figure out which tax dishonesty theory she's trying to spout.]

Although, the IRS will bully you into paying. So that if they take you to court with their high-priced lawyers, you probably won't win b/c the jurors will think if they pay taxes you should too. [The IRS won't take you to court.  Neither assessment nor enforced collection requires court action.]

So just to avoid the hassle, loss in wages, and stress.. you should go ahead and continue to pay, but it is a bunch of crock!

And on the contrary Wayne G, there are some tax protestors that have won in court! It's not easy... but it has happened a couple times. [And yet you cannot provide a single example.]

Vernice Kuglin

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,9463...

[Vernice Kuglin lost to the IRS.  She's paying her taxes.  She won against the DOJ, so she did not go to jail for tax evasion.]

There are others, but I don't feel like looking them all up [You wouldn't find any, so why waste your time.]

, go to http://www.givemeliberty.org and they have a lot of resources on there." [But none that will legally get you out of paying taxes.]