So, I've been thinking of not paying my income tax

[gristy]

Until recently, I had never given serious thought to withholding my income tax payment because of my opposition to my government's position on one thing or other. After all, I had accepted that our country was a democracy, and I was willing to go along with the majority of the voters who had voted to put our election-winners in office.

But given the rush to electronic voting machines which lack voter-verified paper ballots, and given the extreme difficulty (impossibility?) of determining that the vote is not fraudulent and that the election results indeed reflect the will of the people, I was wondering if I would be justified in withholding my 2005 (i.e., after next year's election) income tax payment (no taxation without representation!). Do you think I should withhold it? How should I withhold it?

Should I?
1. File (though no check) or not file?
2. Put the money that would be paid in taxes in a dedicated bank account, to be left untouched until we the people wrest control of our elections back from the lying plutocrats?
3. Give the money that would have been paid in taxes to charities of my choice?
4. Spend the money myself, thereby helping the economy in my very own personal way?

[jagguy]

1. feeling pretty brave ?

technically you are not required to pay income tax but you are required to file.

Bowever...

The IRS has powers to seize and imprison beyond what law enforcement does. They have no sense of humor to begin with and are also already pissed off as a right wing group that believes that income taxes are unconstitutional have been raising a stink over it for the last 2-3 years.

So if you can deal with having all your possesions seized, your accounts emptied and being left homeless and penniless, have at it !

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. Actually....

check out

www.givemeliberty.org

[jagguy]

6. did a long time ago

things are not going so well.

Here we have a bona fide constitutional problem that is all but unheard of.

[searchingforlight]

3. Read everything you can on Joan Baez.

She lived it for years.

[demnan]

4. Determine what amount of your tax money . . .

goes for things you don't approve of. And take half that amount (or what you could normally deduct) and donate it to a tax-deductible charity of your choice. That way you are soothing your conscience without landing in jail.

[JNelson6563]

5. now is not the time to fool with this

Pay your taxes and work like hell to overthrow this illegitimate regime.

I wouldn't fool around with this if I were you.

Julie

[GCP]

7. Sorry, but you must be nuts

You'd probably end up in prison, and where would that leave your family or dependents?

We all loath this government, but setting yourself up like this is self-destructive and ill-conceived.

Work like hell to get Bush out, that's better than any tax protest.

[Systematic Chaos]

8. READ THIS!!!

There's some stuff you MUST do, and I strongly suggest you purchase the books of one Otto Skinner, whose methods for non-compliance are the best in print.

You need to establish a paper trail of non-compliance immediately!

If you're working for someone, you need to file a new W-4 with your employer, both claiming the maximum number of allowances your company will let you, AND with a supplemental statement (clearly labeled page 2 of 2 with the main form clearly labeled page 1 of 2, so that way nobody can separate them) basically stating that any claims you are making on the form are ONLY to establish the maximum possible degree of non-compliance, AND that you can find no law anywhere making you both subject to and liable for any kind of withholding tax on your earnings. You must also place yourself under a condition of duress with your employer by asking personnel if you're required to have a W-4 on file with them, and just what the consequences are if you don't. When they tell you it would cost you your job you are then under a condition of duress, and your signatures on the W-4 must reflect that by stating so clearly next to your signature. A big "UD" in a circle is sufficient.

Please note that effective the year 2000, nobody is able to claim "exempt" anymore unless they are under 18, plus some other garbage. So, your only recourse is to claim the maximum number of allowances and accept that you will still lose a VERY small portion of your money each week.

Note that you CAN request that money back each year on the grounds that you can't find any law or code section making you both subject to and liable for withholdings, but coming right out and alerting the IRS in that manner will just speed up the inevitable.

Also, a note about audits:

Did you know that the tax code clearly states that the section pretaining to delegation of authority used to read "The secretary or his delegate..." may request information for an audit. However it also states that the section was changed years ago to read ONLY "The secretary...". I have seen this with my own eyes, though I can't remember the exact code section. What this means to us is that at an audit you can stop the IRS agents COLD by asking them where their delegation of authority is! If they say they have one, you demand proof on the spot and catch them in their lie. If they say they don't then you can stop the audit right there. You can then go one step further by simply asking if they plan on using the information they obtain against you in any way. Of course they are, so you may invoke your fifth amendment rights and refuse.

And about tax levies:

There are two forms pretaining to levies. The first is a "Notice of Levy" and the second is a "Levy". You can look up the OMB numbers of these two forms and see that they're almost exactly alike except for their titles. HOWEVER, a "Notice of Levy" has no actual weight and isn't an actual legal levy document, only a "Levy" is. However, the IRS will only file "Notices of Levy" with employers, as the actual levy process is rather long and involved... BUT the employers, out of fear and ignorance, will honor it anyway. If you are ever tax levied and can prove that only a "Notice of Levy" was filed, which is about 99.9% likely, you may sue your employer to cease and desist holding your money back and if you present your arguments properly you will win.

[gristy]

12. this all looks pretty complicated

So I will have to start by reading Otto Skinner's book, as you recommend. I am fearful that regardless of what Skinner says, and regardless of not being able to find a law w.r.t. this or that, that the IRS uses court rulings to plug non-compliance holes in the law as fast as they can be discovered. I suppose my stated reason in my original post - no taxation without representation - will not gain me sympathy from any judge.

[leftyandproud]

9. NEED SOME HELP HERE..

The IRS is screwing with me because I didn't file in 2001.
I didn't file because I KNOW that I don't owe any income taxes. I only worked part of the year, making $7000 in income. I day traded some stocks at a cheap online broker, making about $500 MAX.

So my total income including short term gains was $7500

Now...I paid all of my payroll taxes. They came directly out of my paycheck. And income taxes don't kick in until $10k+ I know this for sure...so I wouldn't have owed anything on the stock gains either.

NOW, the IRS is f*cking with me. Telling me that I need to go back and find the record of every stock trade of the year and report it, or they will fill out a return for me and bill me for what they think I owe...My question is: What is the worst that can happen here?

If they do a complete, massive audit for me, I KNOW that I will have nothing to fear...because I know I didn't make nearly enough to owe income taxes during this year...So, can someone tell me--what's the worst that could happen?

[dwillison]

14. You need to be aware of how brokerage firms treat a stock transaction.

If you buy a stock for 5 dollars and sell it for 10 dollars, the
ten dollars is entered on the 1099. At the end of the year the brokerage firm sends a 1099 totaling the amount of all your trades.
It is the taxpayers responsibility to show profit or loss when
you itemize by April 15th.

[leftyandproud]

I don't have this record...

believe it or not--I'm actually HOPING they audit me. If they audit me, can they find this information?? I want them to do a complete background workup on me--finding all financial info from 2001. I don't care...I have nothng to hide. I made $7500 total and this is less than the threshold where the income tax kicks in. Isn't the burden of proof on the IRS now to PROOVE that I owe the money?? I know for a fact that I owe nothing...If they audit me, they may end up owing me a hundred bucks or so from the withholdings they took from my paycheck.

[dwillison]

16. I've been through this same struggle. The burden of proof is on you.

I couldn't find all the information in my records and guessed at some
but I truly reported what I thought to be accurate. It's been a couple of years ago and so far, so good.

[Clete]

10. There was an article in my local throw away paper.

This person said he was going to file a W-4 with the maximum dependents on it so that no money would be taken from his check for FIT. There wouldn't be any money collected to be remitted with the quarterly payroll tax return. He said if enough people did this, it would seriously undermine the U. S. Treasury, which relies on the flow of money coming in on the quarterly tax returns to pay their loans and interest on the loans.

As a former payroll bookkeeper, I find that there are drawbacks to this. Eventually you will have to file a tax return at the end of the year and pay the full amount in a lump sum with a fine. It is illegal to claim more dependents than you have and if the IRS wants to use you as an example they will and they have the law behind them.

A better way would be to start bartering. If you can get your employers on board, you should have them pay your mortgage, car payments and any other large expenses you have. This way it would show up as an operating expense on their books. Next, whatever salary you do collect, you could have them pay you as an independent contractor. This way the only return to the IRS gets filed at the end of the year, as a lump sum paid to you. Okay you have to file at the end of the year and pay taxes, or it would be better yet if they could pay you cash under the table then there would be no record, ergo no need to file a return.

The important thing is to not create an audit trail with your SS number on it. If there is no record of the transaction, then the IRS is pretty much out on a limb. Now here is my disclaimer. I don't really recommend measures as drastic as this unless we are at a point of no return and we need to do what it takes to undermine this government.

[corarose]

11. If you could get thousands to do this they would notice your stance

We all need to create enough issues that they government will take notice.
Our rights are leaving us day by day and I am getting sick of the USA.
We need to stand up for our rights or when we wake up one morning we will be in a prison camp or the new Soviet Union.

[Clete]

13. Well, if you don't do this refusal to pay taxes the right way,

you really will end up in prison or at least stripped of all your assests.

[dwillison]

15. Speaking from experience: If you have ever had endure to or heard

of experiences with divorce attorneys being aggravating and stressful,
get the IRS folks really riled up with you. They will worry you to death. Unless you consider the amount of money worth the grief, pay your taxes.

[Clete]

17. I spent a lot of time

before I retired bailing people with small businesses out of trouble with the IRS, who had gotton enmired in the system, which is very draconian in its enforcement of the letter of the law rather than keeping to the spirit of the law.

I had one client who had gotten into thousands of dollars indebtedness because he failed to file a quarterly return on one employee not knowing that he had to do so. (He was from another country.)

The original debt was $500 and the interest kept piling on until it was $6,000.

[dwillison]

18. I didn't file the form showing the profit and loss on stock and options

reporting. I lost money over the whole year but the IRS informed me
that I owed taxes on $244,000 unreported income. That was the total
of my stock transactions for 1999.

I quickly got the proper forms and filled them out and mailed them in.

I always found the IRS to be reasonable unless you try to fudge. They can be a pain in the ass if you try to outsmart or ignore them.