Tax Payers Give the IRS the Same Old Excuses
Have an excuse not to pay your taxes this year? Don’t bother telling it to
the federal government. Year after year, the Internal Revenue Services
hears the same tired excuses.
By Stanley H. Block
The Internal Revenue Service
has no constitutional authority to collect taxes from U.S. citizens.
Previous rulings by the U.S.
Supreme Court have upheld that taxpayers do not have to pay income taxes
to the federal government.
California citizens do not
have to pay taxes to the federal government because they are sovereign
citizens of the Republic of California.
The list goes on and on.
Every year around this time —
as tax day draws nearer and nearer — the IRS hears the same excuses over
and over and over again. In fact, some companies make money offering
taxpayers tips on which excuses to use in order to avoid taxes.
But those companies are shams
— and so are their excuses.
The truth is that any excuse
you could possibly give to the IRS has been used hundreds of times before.
And it doesn’t work. Whether you like it or not, the IRS has the legal
authority to collect taxes from you. It’s the way it is.
Death and taxes, as they say.
This year, the IRS is trying
to get the word out early. Don’t bother with same old excuses, they’re
telling taxpayers.
“Every filing season,
thousands of taxpayers hear groundless theories suggesting that they don’t
have to pay taxes or file returns,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson.
“We want people to know the truth about these frivolous arguments: they
don’t work.”
Some of things taxpayers try,
says Everson, are claiming that income tax is unconstitutional, that
taxpayers may withhold taxes as a protest against the government or one of
its programs, and even that Social Security taxes can be refunded by
waiving future rights to Social Security benefits.
“The courts have consistently
rejected these arguments and imposed substantial penalties on those taking
these unsupportable positions,” said IRS Chief Counsel Donald L. Korb.
“Those potentially tempted by these schemes need to realize that they
carry a heavy price for both the taxpayers and the promoters.”
Indeed, the IRS doesn’t play
games.
Tax payers who claim
frivolous excuses not to pay taxes face a $500 penalty and may be subject
to civil penalties of 20 or 75 percent of the underpaid tax. Those who
take it further, by brining their frivolous cases to the courts, face an
additional penalty of up to $25,000.
There’s no way around it,
dear citizen. You must pay taxes.
The best thing you can do now
is to stop thinking of tired excuses as tax days roll around. You can’t
beat the IRS. Thousands of people have tried before you. They all failed.
Just pay those taxes. Don’t
cause yourself IRS headaches.
Stanley H. Block is Certified Tax Resolution Specialist, a member of the
American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and a Maryland State Tax
Attorney. You
can contact him at 410-727-6006 to obtain a free subscription to his newsletter
titled The IRS Times & Inquirer.
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